The Gophers rowing team ended their season in seventh place in the 2025 Big Ten Conference Rowing Championships. 

After a successful season leading up to the championship, the team traveled to Florida for the Big Ten invitationals in mid-April. At the end of the invitational, the Gophers claimed two first place finishes. 

The team’s third Varsity Four boat won against rivals Wisconsin and Iowa. In the final race of the regatta, the Gophers earned another win with their Second Novice Eight boat in a close 10-second victory. 

Gophers junior and captain Manon Field said she can see the commitment to the work being put into the team. 

“I think compared to two years ago, three years ago, four years ago, we are taking steps in the right direction,” Field said. “I think a lot of our teammates are committed to the team, not just this year but going forward.

Field said it feels like they are building something bigger than just this year’s team. 

At the Big Ten championships, the Gophers scored a total of 127 points built off of the performance from their many different boats. However, the overall best performance from the Gophers at the championship was when the First Varsity Four race crew made a time of 7:06.390.

Their time earned them a fifth place finish in the event and gave Minnesota 21 points. 

Gophers head coach Alicea Strodel said she saw a lot of growth and was really proud of her team’s performance this year.

“We are not finishing last,” Strodel said. “Every year we are improving on this team, we are getting more points as a team.” 

Both Strodel and Field mentioned the difficulty they face when practicing an outdoor sport in Minnesota. The rowing team practices year-round, which includes the winter months when the rivers and lakes freeze up. 

Frozen waters mean the team does a lot of indoor training when they aren’t able to get outside. 

Strodel said it is important to remember that every school has their challenges, and it doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits from training inside. 

“There is a training benefit, an aerobic benefit, a strength benefit that we get by being on the rowing machines and being indoors,” Strodel said. 

Field said next season she hopes the team just keeps moving up. 

“The goal is always Big Ten, that’s the big mark,” Field said. “We would love to see us move up again from seventh place to maybe six, fifth, or fourth and keep it going.”