The Massachusetts rowing team began its 2026 season at the Sarasota 2K, held on March 28 and 29 at Nathan Benderson Park in Bradenton, Florida. The event featured several universities competing in multiple heats and finals over two days.
The competition is significant as it marks the start of the season for Massachusetts, providing an early indication of team performance against a range of opponents.
On Saturday, the UMass Varsity 4 crew secured second place in the Petite Final with a time of 8:14.48, finishing behind Kansas but ahead of Boston College, Jacksonville, Tulsa, and Kansas State. The Second Varsity 8 placed third in its Petite Final (7:25.74), trailing Louisville and Boston College while surpassing Tulsa, Kansas, and Michigan State. Later that day, the Varsity 8 earned second place in its own Petite Final (7:02.26), just behind Louisville (7:01.17) but ahead of Tulsa, Boston College, Michigan State, and Kansas.
Overall standings saw the Varsity 8 finish eighth among all crews participating in their event category. The Second Varsity 8 finished ninth overall while the Varsity 4 also achieved an eighth-place overall finish.
During Friday’s preliminary heats leading up to finals qualification rounds, both the Varsity 4 (7:49.70) and Second Varsity 8 (6:58.62) took third place in their respective races; meanwhile, the Varsity 8 came fourth with a time of 6:41.72.
The Massachusetts rowing team will continue its spring schedule when it returns to competition at the Knecht Cup on April 11-12.
