[fullmetal]

Do ties like this happen that often?

V8 tiebreakers for the championship are quite uncommon, much less two in a row.  It's hard to race at such a high level across three different boat classes, and it's also hard to land on exact boat finish combinations that result in tied points tallies.  Having said that, tiebreaks for first place don't happen often in the regular season because you don't often have multiple conference programs that are so closely matched such that the lower-ranked programs can spoil in the 2V and V4 to generate the point differences required in the V8 finish to tie two top programs.  Ties in the lower echelons of final rankings happen more often, but to determine the championship really requires some specific circumstances.

Seems like women's rowing is the preferred sport for padding women's participation figures to comply with Title IX.

This is true. You definitely notice programs that are perennial basement dwellers that go for years without coaching changes or marked improvement.  This is also one of the reasons why athletic departments are loathe to add men's rowing as a varsity sport.  But you can't be a top women's rowing program without significant investment from the athletic department, and there are more than a few programs with top talent and keen coaches.

My personal takes on the racing: 

The V4+ had an uncharacteristic race (very slow second 500m) and finished fourth.  Stanford won their semifinal by many seconds over Princeton and Ohio State, who in turn came out guns blazing in the final to take the top two places.  Did Princeton and Ohio State lower their effort for the semifinal, having a very secure qualifying place?  (They were not in danger of being caught by the fourth place boat.)  Texas had to settle for third behind Princeton and Ohio State...but the Longhorns did place ahead of Washington (who beat them in the semifinal).  In fact, Washington was hanging just behind Princeton through 3/4 of the race, after which they appeared to fade very quickly, from second to fifth place behind Stanford.  Unfortunately, Stanford's place right behind Texas would be the hair's breadth that Texas later needed to cash in on the V8 tiebreak for the championship.

The 2V8+ had a pretty tough race to win silver.  A group of four boats crossed the first 500m first, led by Yale, with Stanford in the back of that lead pack by about 0.7 sec.  After the second 500m, Princeton had dropped back to fifth overall behind Texas.  After the third 500m, Stanford had overtaken Washington by about a half second.  Yale took the gold in a wire-to-wire finish despite a charge from Stanford, but it wasn't especially close.  The Stanford 2V8+ did well to beat Washington (to whom they lost at the Pac-12 championships) while hanging in there to outlast Princeton and straight up beat Texas (ranked #1 pre-regatta).  If Princeton had beaten Texas...lol.

The 1V8+ performed within reasonable expectations to win silver but were outclassed (as was the rest of the field) by a fast Texas varsity eight.  Stanford and Princeton crossed the first 500m together behind Texas (who kept marching further away through the finish), but Stanford just put some distance on Princeton in the second 500m to establish a lead that would not be relinquished through the finish line.  Behind Princeton, kal and Washington traded leads early on, and though Washington stayed within striking distance for most of the race, kal would ultimately finish ahead by 0.381 sec, upending their Pac-12 championship result of a 1.48 sec Husky win. 

It's very hard to win an NCAA rowing team championship, and it's even harder to maintain a top-two finish two years in a row.  It was said that Yale and Michigan lost top athletes to injury/illness right before the regatta -- no word on why or what.  Traditional powers like kal, Virginia, and Ohio State have found themselves uncharacteristically out of the conversation: down but not out.  Princeton has reasserted themselves as a contender, and Yale has shown some strength.  Washington, who was in that three-way tie for first last year, had a tough season and couldn't find their mojo.  Second place isn't the goal, but it is a worthy accomplishment for the Stanford program, who will return to campus and start final exams this week.

Race results here (until 2023 comes along?):
http://www.regattatiming.com/results/ncaa/

Final points tally: 
http://www.regattatiming.com/results/547...ndings.pdf

[fullmetal]

Do ties like this happen that often?

V8 tiebreakers for the championship are quite uncommon, much less two in a row.  It's hard to race at such a high level across three different boat classes, and it's also hard to land on exact boat finish combinations that result in tied points tallies.  Having said that, tiebreaks for first place don't happen often in the regular season because you don't often have multiple conference programs that are so closely matched such that the lower-ranked programs can spoil in the 2V and V4 to generate the point differences required in the V8 finish to tie two top programs.  Ties in the lower echelons of final rankings happen more often, but to determine the championship really requires some specific circumstances.

Seems like women's rowing is the preferred sport for padding women's participation figures to comply with Title IX.

This is true. You definitely notice programs that are perennial basement dwellers that go for years without coaching changes or marked improvement.  This is also one of the reasons why athletic departments are loathe to add men's rowing as a varsity sport.  But you can't be a top women's rowing program without significant investment from the athletic department, and there are more than a few programs with top talent and keen coaches.

My personal takes on the racing: 

The V4+ had an uncharacteristic race (very slow second 500m) and finished fourth.  Stanford won their semifinal by many seconds over Princeton and Ohio State, who in turn came out guns blazing in the final to take the top two places.  Did Princeton and Ohio State lower their effort for the semifinal, having a very secure qualifying place?  (They were not in danger of being caught by the fourth place boat.)  Texas had to settle for third behind Princeton and Ohio State...but the Longhorns did place ahead of Washington (who beat them in the semifinal).  In fact, Washington was hanging just behind Princeton through 3/4 of the race, after which they appeared to fade very quickly, from second to fifth place behind Stanford.  Unfortunately, Stanford's place right behind Texas would be the hair's breadth that Texas later needed to cash in on the V8 tiebreak for the championship.

The 2V8+ had a pretty tough race to win silver.  A group of four boats crossed the first 500m first, led by Yale, with Stanford in the back of that lead pack by about 0.7 sec.  After the second 500m, Princeton had dropped back to fifth overall behind Texas.  After the third 500m, Stanford had overtaken Washington by about a half second.  Yale took the gold in a wire-to-wire finish despite a charge from Stanford, but it wasn't especially close.  The Stanford 2V8+ did well to beat Washington (to whom they lost at the Pac-12 championships) while hanging in there to outlast Princeton and straight up beat Texas (ranked #1 pre-regatta).  If Princeton had beaten Texas...lol.

The 1V8+ performed within reasonable expectations to win silver but were outclassed (as was the rest of the field) by a fast Texas varsity eight.  Stanford and Princeton crossed the first 500m together behind Texas (who kept marching further away through the finish), but Stanford just put some distance on Princeton in the second 500m to establish a lead that would not be relinquished through the finish line.  Behind Princeton, kal and Washington traded leads early on, and though Washington stayed within striking distance for most of the race, kal would ultimately finish ahead by 0.381 sec, upending their Pac-12 championship result of a 1.48 sec Husky win. 

It's very hard to win an NCAA rowing team championship, and it's even harder to maintain a top-two finish two years in a row.  It was said that Yale and Michigan lost top athletes to injury/illness right before the regatta -- no word on why or what.  Traditional powers like kal, Virginia, and Ohio State have found themselves uncharacteristically out of the conversation: down but not out.  Princeton has reasserted themselves as a contender, and Yale has shown some strength.  Washington, who was in that three-way tie for first last year, had a tough season and couldn't find their mojo.  Second place isn't the goal, but it is a worthy accomplishment for the Stanford program, who will return to campus and start final exams this week.

Race results here (until 2023 comes along?):
http://www.regattatiming.com/results/ncaa/

Final points tally: 
http://www.regattatiming.com/results/547...ndings.pdf