SMU’s rowing team will begin its spring season with a scrimmage against the University of Texas in Austin on March 8, 2026. This event marks the team’s only scrimmage before starting regular competition.
Third-year head coach Chase Graham commented on the upcoming scrimmage, saying, “I’m excited to go on the road and kick off the spring season with this team. I’m most interested to see how our athletes translate what they’ve been doing in practice vs an external opponent. There’s a lot of development to come and this is another step in our path to prepare for championship racing in May.”
A junior athlete from SMU shared her thoughts ahead of the season: “As an upperclassman, I’ve watched our team get stronger each year and I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow alongside this group. We’ve been feeling strong and focused on our own, and now I’m excited to go into racing season and see what we can accomplish once we’re lined up against other teams.”
Senior members also reflected on their final racing season. One senior stated, “I am feeling excited to finally start the racing season. A lot of meters and hours have been put in over the last 8 months building up to now. As a senior, racing season is bittersweet this year, but I look forward to gaining speed in the coming weeks and seeing what we can do with this 2026 team.” Another senior and team captain added, “Excited to race with my boat. Confident we will race to the best of our ability, getting us excited for spring break and forward.”
In addition, Dooley was named by her school as SMU’s representative on the ACC 2026 Preseason Watch List. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) remains unique as it is currently the only collegiate conference that issues a preseason rowing watch list featuring one student-athlete from each participating program.
Looking ahead at their schedule after Texas, SMU will compete at Sarasota 2K from March 27-28. The team is also set for appearances at UCF Invite (April 17-18) in Orlando and Lake Wheeler Invitational hosted by Duke (April 23-25). Their postseason includes participation at both ACC Championship (May 15-16) and NCAA Championship (May 29-June 1).
