American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) is one of the governing bodies of college rowing in the United States, together with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA).
Established in 2008 by Gregg Hartsuff under the General Not for Profit Association Act of 1986, the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) is made up of club-level collegiate rowing teams.
Before 2006, competitive club rowing programs, which receive little or no funding from their university athletic departments, were able to compete at the IRA Championship. During the 2006-2007 season, Rutgers University cut funding from its men's rowing program, reducing it to "club" status. Part of Rutgers's justification for cutting rowing was that clubs could compete equally with funded programs at the IRA Championships. To avoid other varsity program members from losing funding, the IRA excluded clubs from competing at its championship beginning in 2007. ACRA became an alternative championship for these clubs.[1] It has since grown to include over 76 competing collegiate programs in 2024.[2]
The ACRA National Championship Regatta is considered the National Championship for collegiate club programs and all programs outside the NCAA/IRA structure.
The regatta is split into six regions: the Mid-Atlantic region, the Great Lakes region, the Plains region, the Northeast region, the South region, and the West Coast region.[3] The ACRA is a broadcast partner of The Rowers Consortium of Huntington Harbour, California, who has broadcast the regatta on The Rowing Channel since 2014.
ACRA is currently organized by a coach-elected board consisting of elected officers and representatives from each of the six regions. As of 2024, the board consists of the following members:
| Dan WollebenBucknell University | ||
| Secretary | Gregg HartsuffMichigan University | |
| Treasurer | Scott ArmstrongMinnesota University | |
| Great Lakes Rep. | Peter RosbergUniversity of Cincinnati | |
| Mid-Atlantic Rep. | Frank BillerUniversity of Virginia | |
| Northeast Rep. | Doug WellingBowdoin University | |
| Plains Rep. | Rachel TuckWichita State University | |
| South Rep. | Jon MillerVanderbilt University | |
| West Coast Rep. | Peter BrevickWashington State University |
| Mid-Atlantic Region | Great Lakes Region | Plains Region | Northeast Region | South Region | West Coast Region | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State University | ||||||
| California State University-Long Beach | ||||||
| California State University Maritime Academy | ||||||
| Chapman University | ||||||
| Humboldt State University | ||||||
| Menlo College | ||||||
| Nevada State College | ||||||
| Portland State University | ||||||
| St. John's University and College of St. Benedict | Sacramento State University | |||||
| San Diego State University | ||||||
| St. Olaf University | Seattle University | |||||
| University of California-Berkeley Lightweights | ||||||
| University of California-Davis | ||||||
| University of California-Irvine | ||||||
| University of California-Santa Barbara | ||||||
| SUNY at Oswego | University of California-Los Angeles | |||||
| University of Southern California | ||||||
| Washington State University | ||||||
| Western Washington University | ||||||
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| 2008 | Michigan | |
| 2009 | Michigan | |
| 2010 | Michigan | |
| 2011 | Virginia | |
| 2012 | Virginia | |
| 2013 | Michigan | |
| 2014 | Michigan | |
| 2015 | Michigan | |
| 2016 | Michigan | |
| 2017 | UC Santa Barbara | |
| 2018 | Michigan | |
| 2019 | Delaware | |
| 2020 | Not held due to COVID-19 Pandemic | |
| 2021 | Not held due to COVID-19 Pandemic | |
| 2022 | George Washington | |
| 2023 | UCLA | |
| 2024 | Notre Dame |
The ACRA Championship for the 2024-25 season will be hosted in Oak Ridge, Tennessee from Friday, May 16 until Sunday, May 18.[7]