Wolverines Awarded 18th Consecutive Bid to NCAA Championships
5/19/2026 5:28:00 PM | Rowing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan rowing program earned a bid to the 2026 NCAA Rowing Championships, the NCAA announced on Tuesday (May 19). Following the team's 255-point fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday (May 17), the Wolverines secured their spot in the championship regatta.
This year's NCAA races will take place at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga., over three days from Friday (May 29) to Sunday (May 31). The championship regatta will be hosted by Lake Lanier Olympic Park and the University of North Georgia. It is the third time this location will hold the championships (1998, 2001). Michigan's best NCAA finish as a program is a second-place showing in 2012.
U-M is one of 12 programs to be awarded an at-large selection to the field of 22 teams, which also includes 10 automatic qualifiers via conference championships. The Big Ten champion, Washington, earned the conference's automatic bid. The selection marks Michigan's 18th straight postseason bid and 25th overall.
Competition includes the first varsity eight, the second varsity eight and the first varsity four events. The three championship boats from each school will compete for individual national titles, while earning points toward the overall team championship.
The Wolverines enter the event seeded No. 17 in the first eight, No. 13 in the second eight and No. 15 in the first four.
The team will travel to Georgia in the coming week to begin preparations for the championship regatta later this month.
