lightweight rowing - recruiting

Question
Im currently a junior in highschool, I have around a 3.9 GPA, i have been
rowing for about a year, i have an erg score (at altitude denver) of 8:18 but
hope to get down to about a 8:10, I have many medals under my belt from
competition at 6 regattas. I am a lightweight at 122 lbs and am 5'4". I am
looking for any college with a lightweight program to which i have a
possibility of getting recruited to. What are the colleges that even have
women's lightweight programs? And, is it even possible to get recruited into a
lightweight program, if so what should i improve on to do so?

Answer
Hi KW: While men's college rowing has several very viable lightweight programs among the major schools, this is not the same with women.  The NCAA does not recognize women's lightweight championships even at the D1 level.

The best women's lightweight programs are in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges.  The EARC consist of your Ivy's and other major East Coast schools like the Naval Academy, Syracuse, Rutgers, Northeastern, etc.  Within these schools, only 5 field lightweight women's programs: Radcliffe, Georgetown, MIT, Princeton and Wisconsin.

The other major Lightweight Rowing conference is the Dad Vail Rowing Association.  These crews all get together in Philadelphia in May to compete in the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the world.  Last year, Bucknell university won the women's lightweight eight, followed by Cal Berkely, Tulsa, U. of Buffalo, Lafayette and Georgia Tech.  

The ten schools named above could serve as a good starting short list of Women's lightweight schools.  Check the schools' web sites for more details on the academics and the crew programs.   

Unless you are rowing at the National level, I don't think your odds are that good of recruited for a scholarship as a lightweight.  But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a productive college career as a rower.

Good Luck/AP