The Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation and Chesapeake Boathouse will host the first 2008 American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship regatta on May 24-25 on the Oklahoma River. With 148 entries from 41 programs, the event will be the first of its kind for club programs from around the country.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm going into this weekend,” said Gregg Hartsuff, president of the ACRA governing board and head coach of Michigan men’s rowing. “As far as regattas go, this one will be a little more charged.”

Nineteen events are scheduled for the two–day regatta, including the men’s varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight, lightweight eight, varsity four, novice four, lightweight four and pair. Women’s races include the varsity eight, novice eight, varsity four, novice four, lightweight four and pair. The event will also feature sculling events including men’s and women’s single and double sculls.

“I anticipate that we are going to have success beyond what most people considered possible this weekend,” said Bob Jaugstetter, ACRA treasurer and registrar and head rowing coach at Tulane University. “The level of participation exceeded our expectations and there is representation from all over the country.”

Oklahoma City University leads the pack with 12 entries, followed by The Ohio State University with 11 and University of Michigan with eight.

“There’s been a need for this event for some time,” said Hartsuff. “Now that the leadership is put into place, it’s coming together. There are more entries than we thought, having put the event together halfway into most programs’ calendars and budgets. Basically, our planning committee put this together in five months. Despite that, we have almost all of the major players on the men’s side, and it will be a first true national championship for those teams.”

The American Collegiate Rowing Association was formed in January by 26 colleges from different divisions, with the primary focus of establishing a national championship event for collegiate club rowing teams. All collegiate club rowing programs recognized by their respective universities are eligible for participation, as well as varsity programs at institutions that don’t have membership in the NCAA.

“The great thing about setting up this organization is it’s been very harmonious,” said Hartsuff. “For the most part, we are all on the same page, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. A lot of the work has been done by decades of coaches before us.”

“Gregg was very open from the start, welcoming anybody that wanted to be a part of the early planning stages,” said Jaugstetter. “He insisted on everyone having the opportunity to be included in this event.”

Club rowing programs were all facing the same situation earlier this year, when the IRA board of stewards began to re-evaluate its championship regatta, according to Hartsuff. The proposal involved a cut back in the number of club teams that would be invited to compete alongside varsity squads at the IRA regatta, which has served as the de facto championship for men’s rowing since 1995.

“This year, the IRA allowed club programs to compete, but that might not be the case next year,” said Hartsuff. “We have a national championship in place when and where that happens. The need is definitely there for this regatta.”

Hartsuff and Jaugstetter speculate that entries for the national championship will double in the next year. Research conducted in the early stages of developing the ACRA identified over 150 men’s and women’s club programs in the United States.

“We want as many people to be involved as possible,” said Hartsuff. “Should everyone participate in this national championship, that’s larger than the NCAA and the number of men’s varsity programs. This has the potential to be enormous.”

The ACRA selected Oklahoma City as the national championship venue for the first two years, for its “central location and ability to step forward with the resources necessary to host a quality event.”

“Some coaches have expressed that they would like to see a travelling regatta,” said Hartsuff. “We’ve made a two-year commitment with the folks in Oklahoma City. If they put on a good event, then I think people will be inclined to come back. There are very few places around the country that can match their level of assistance.

Racing begins Saturday with heats and semifinals and continues Sunday with finals. The ACRA also will present its all-region teams and men’s and women’s regional coaches of the year awards.

For more information about the regatta, visit www.acranationals.com.