No. 8 Women's Crew Earns Record 28th Consecutive NCAA Championship Bid
5/20/2025 5:24:00 PM | Women's Crew
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For a record 28th consecutive season, the Brown women's crew program has punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship.Â
The Bears, led by former Olympic gold medalist, All-American and first year Loyalty Chair for Women's Crew Head Coach Tessa Gobbo-Zimmerman '13, have been ranked inside the top ten in every CRCA Pocock Poll this season.Â
With a roster that consists mostly of underclassmen, the Bears leaned on the experience and poise of their eight seniors to set the tone early in the season. Nadia Vondeling, Caroline Schmitz, Jessica McGrady, Audrey Roche, Annie Herring, Juliette Hopgood, Elizabeth Polydefkis, and Riley Cooper rose to the challenge and helped guide this program to yet another successful season. Schmitz (First Team), Vondeling (Second Team), McGrady (Second Team), and Roche (Academic) were rewarded for their contributions this season by earning All-Ivy honors earlier today. You can find the full release HERE.
The Bears V8 has put together a strong spring campaign, taking home the bronze at this past weekend's Ivy Championship in New Jersey. In addition to two first place finishes against Penn and Cornell, Brown's top boat secured three podium finishes at the Big Ten Invitational in Sarasota, confirming their contender status against some of the country's top crews. Â
Bruno has dominated at the NCAA Championship since its inception in 1997, winning a record seven national championships in that time period. The Washington Huskies trail the Bears with five national championships. The Bears, Princeton Tigers, and Washington are the only programs to make the NCAA Championship every year since 1997. Brown is coming off of a fifth place finish at last year's event in Bethel, Ohio.Â
The 2025 NCAA Championship is scheduled to begin on Friday, May 30 and will continue through Sunday, June 1 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey.Â
2025 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
Automatic Qualifiers
Boston University
Fairfield
Northeastern
Oregon State
Rhode Island
Stanford
University of Central Florida
Washington
Yale
At-Large Selections
Brown
California
Dartmouth
Harvard
Indiana
Michigan
Penn
Princeton
Rutgers
Syracuse
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS FOUNDATION
The Brown University Sports Foundation (BUSF) is the lifeblood of the athletics program and exists to enhance the student-athlete experience through philanthropic support from alumni, parents, fans, and friends. A gift through the Sports Foundation immediately impacts today's Brown Bears and helps them to be their best in the classroom, in competition, and most importantly in the community. To learn more about supporting the Bears, please click here.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
For the latest on Brown Athletics, please follow @BrownU_Bears on Twitter, @BrownU_Bears on Instagram, like BrownUBears on Facebook, and subscribe to the BrownAthletics YouTube channel.
Players Mentioned
