Concept2 Forum

Whats the diffrence between sira and ACRA? Isnt the ACRA a club league for schools?
which is better of the two ?
where are good lightweight mens programs to row at?
I would like to go a good rowing college but i know i cant be in the top teams but the middle teams. I dont want to go to a a bad rowing college be owned b.c high school team is pretty good so i would like to go a decent rowing college
thanks
Lou ward

It's my understanding that you have to qualify for ACRA but not necessarily so for SIRA.

I row at UNC Chapel Hill and from what our coach has told us we're competing at ACRA for sure but for SIRA we have to qualify at Dad Vails.

Whats the diffrence between sira and ACRA? Isnt the ACRA a club league for schools?

SIRA is the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (http://tinyurl.com/c22x2a - leads to SIRA member page). It is a specific league for schools (varsity and club) and the SIRA's are the league championship. That being said, schools from outside the league can compete and do not need to qualify (ChavezUNC has SIRA and IRAs confused).

ACRA is the American Collegiate Rowing Association (http://tinyurl.com/ddppnp - leads to ACRA championship info page) is a new "league" that has formed as a protest to the IRA no longer accepting club crews. It is composed of club programs and non-NCAA varsity programs. The championship event is ACRAs (we're real creative in rowing huh). There was no qualifying process last year, I do not know what the procedures are this year (I highly doubt you will have to qualify).

which is better of the two ?

By better I assume you mean fastest. For men, probably SIRA. The top end on men's side is very good and usually a couple out of league programs show up. As such, the racing is tight. ACRA....it's too early to make any real judgments. Last year it was something of an afterthought and the finals results clearly show this. Give it another year to really get some momentum and things may change.

For women, it is very clearly SIRA.

where are good lightweight mens programs to row at?

Why limit yourself to lightweight teams? A lot of heavy programs will take a lightweight and work with them. Your best bet is to look at results from sub-IRA/EARC/NCAA championships (Vails, NIRC (formerly ECAC), WIRAs, SIRAs, etc...), find a school you want to attend regardless of rowing, and then contact that school's coach and see if there is a place for someone like you on the team. Trust me, there are rowers on major Vails/ECAC teams that never broke 7 in HS.

I row for Washington U. in St. Louis and I attended both SIRA and ACRA last year and will again this year (SIRA's next weekend, too). As sheehc said, the SIRA regatta is a regional league championship for any level teams, while the ACRA regatta is a national championship primarily for club-level teams (after getting kicked out of IRAs). There's no qualification requirement for ACRAs right now (this year or last) but since it's a brand-new regatta there's no telling if it'll become a big enough event to require qualifiers.

As for teams to look at, my school competes in the URA (University Rowing Association, universityrowing.com), which is based on the UAA athletic conference. All the schools in the URA are ones that are strong academic schools, and not particularly well-known for their athletics. This makes for relatively even matches every year. Almost all the schools entered lightweight men's boats this year. I'm proud to say that we took first in the light men's 8 and 4. Are you a high school senior? What's your 2k time?