Season Preview: 2025-26 Michigan Rowing
3/19/2026 12:00:00 PM | Rowing
The University of Michigan rowing program enters its 35th season (30th varsity), led by head coach Mark Rothstein, with another Big Ten title in sight. Under Rothstein, the Wolverines have finished first or second in the conference in 19 of 24 seasons.
Wolverine Bites
• After winning back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024, the program is seeking a return to Big Ten champion status following its third-place finish in 2025. A conference title this year would mark U-M's fifth in the last seven seasons.
• Michigan has finished in the top 12 nationally for 13 straight seasons, earning top-five finishes four times in that same span.
• U-M was ranked No. 11 in the first edition of the CRCA Poll. The Wolverines have ranked in the top 12 of the preseason poll for 17 consecutive seasons.
• Over spring break, the team returned to Florida for its spring training trip while ramping up preparations for the 2026 season. On and off the water, the Wolverines have been working diligently in the lead-up to their first race against Ohio State on March 28.
• The Wolverines welcomed assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Maegan Neihart in the fall. After previously holding a graduate assistant job with the program in the 2022-23 season, she held a full-time coaching role with Stanford for two seasons. Neihart, a three-time All-Big 12 rower at Oklahoma, is now back in Ann Arbor in a full-time role.
• Gabrielle Graves was also welcomed as a full-time assistant coach this fall. She joined the staff after rowing for the program for four years and graduating in the spring of 2025. While rowing at U-M, Graves was a key contributor to two Big Ten Championships teams (2023, '24) and earned CRCA second team All-American honors as a senior.
Roster Breakdown
• The Wolverines return 26 of 51 athletes who competed as part of the 2025 Big Ten Championships roster that finished third, including five of nine athletes from the bronze medal-winning 1V8 boat: Autumn Crowe, Sara Houben, Amy Newton, Jana Peachey and coxswain Logan Roeder.
• Other athletes returning to the 2026 roster who competed in last year's Big Ten Championships include: Zara Bongiorno, Gretel Ham, Madeleine Lauriault, Deanna Macolino, Leah Miller, coxswain Isabela Pimentel (2V8); Sinéad Erasmus, Grace Hammis, Leija Murphy, Madeson Scott, coxswain Talia Daft (1V4); Halle Loveday, Maddy Matos, Olive Pascoe (2V4); Megan Higley, Ansley Vicars (3V4); Ava Fox, Ava Harrington, Kiley Locke, Ayelel Meyen, Tacey Moore and coxswain Catalina Echavarria (3V8).
• The U-M roster is filled with international experience. Three Wolverines representing three different countries competed in the 2025 U23 World Rowing Championships. Senior Jana Peachey, from the fifth seat of the bronze-winning 8+, represented Canada for the second straight year at the championships; senior Sara Houben took third place in the B Finals with the Netherlands 8+; and first-year athlete Danelia Price-Hughes rowed single sculls for South Africa and earned a second-place B Finals finish.
• Three additional athletes competed in the 2025 U19 World Rowing Championships. First-year rowers Lucy Hallett, Jade Postma, and Novella Rusman all rowed with Team Canada. Hallett raced in single sculls, Postma rowed in the stroke seat in quadruple sculls, and Rusman earned bronze as the stern rower in the Canadian pair.
• Seniors Lauriault and Peachey were named to the preseason CRCA Athletes to Watch honorable mention list for the first time in their respective careers. Both are members of the 2023 and '24 conference championship teams and have combined for three Big Ten gold medals during their time at Michigan.
• Thirty newcomers join the Wolverines for the 2026 season. Graduate student Marloes van der Zwart transferred to the program from Delft University of Technology, where she rowed with Proteus-Erestes, while 25 freshmen, three sophomores, and one junior were welcomed to the team.
• The U-M roster includes 13 veteran seniors and graduate students: Ally Blomquist, Jenna Chaffin, Hammis, Houben, Lauriault, Loveday, Matos, Miller, Ashley Mitchell, Peachey, Pimentel, Roeder and van der Zwart.
2026 Spring Schedule
• Michigan will compete in four regular-season races before the postseason begins. The schedule offers the Maize and Blue an opportunity to compete against strong competition and affords the team the chance to train without competition in the weeks leading up to the Big Ten Championships regatta.
• The Wolverines open their season on the road with the Buckeye Spring Regatta (March 28) in Columbus, Ohio. This will mark the third straight year U-M has traveled to Griggs Reservoir to take on OSU.
• U-M continues with its first home race since 2024 against Texas (April 11). The matchup will mark the sixth straight season the Wolverines battle the Longhorns in a head-to-head race.
• Michigan's third competition weekend will take place in Sacramento, Calif., at the annual Big Ten Invitational (April 18-19). This marks the sixth consecutive occurrence of the two-day event, which will feature all 11 Big Ten representatives and eight non-conference invitees.
• U-M will finish its regular season hosting the Wolverine Double Dual (April 25) at Belleville Lake, where Michigan, Syracuse, Princeton and Ohio State will race. In the double-dual format, the Wolverines will compete against the Orange and the Tigers on Senior Day. Graduating students will be honored following the races.
• The Big Ten Championships (May 16-17) will take place in Indianapolis, Ind., at the Indianapolis Rowing Center. This will be the second straight season the championships will be held in Indianapolis and the 13th overall since 2010.
• The NCAA Championships regatta (May 29-31) will take place in Atlanta, Ga., at Lake Lanier Olympic Park for the first time in 25 years. The location hosted the 1996 Summer Olympic Games as well as the 1998 and 2001 NCAA Rowing Championships, won by Washington on both occasions.
Players Mentioned
