For Stars Network’s 3rd Annual Watchlist for Division 1 Men’s Heavyweight Rowing has officially been released headed into the 2026 College Rowing Season.
Out of the 36 Programs surrounding both the Eastern & Western Seaboards of the country, just over 80 athletes were selected multifariously by The FSN Staff.
When we look at the No. 20-25 Programs in the Nation on paper looking towards the upcoming season, the visual contrast between each of the six teams including (No. 20, Oregon State; No. 21, Temple; No. 22, Drexel; No. 23, UCSD; No. 24, Gonzaga; No. 25, San Diego) is fairly difficult to pinpoint this early on as a preview to the season; however, when we look at both incomers and returners from last season, and the three teams on the West Coast (Gonzaga, San Diego, and UCSD) all having early opportunities during the Regular Season to test their speed, Drexel and Temple will both go up against Top-15 Programs next month against EARC Competition, and it’s safe to say that the FSN Team Rankings will circulate depending on the outcomes of those races.
With the No. 1 Seed of California’s devastating loss in the 2025 IRA National Championship Semi-Final due to an ejectors crab limiting their chances to head onto the Grand Final, Washington came in clutch to win the 2025 Title. California and Washington both are coming into 2026 with a spark similar towards last season, as does Harvard’s stacked list of returners including the majority of their 2025 Varsity Eight, albeit Senior Coxswain, Sreetej Digumarthi, three-seat, Gabe Obholzer to Cambridge University, and Bow-Seat, Tom O’Sullivan to California where he will row for the Golden Bears as a Grad Transfer this season.
Ultimately, the FSN Staff knew it was time to finally release the long overdue list of emerging players competing in Heavyweight Rowing at the Division 1 College Level who are steadily on the rise and performing well early on in the season. It would be uncustomary to justify that these athletes would be considered the best in the game or within their program alone, given that these athletes are fresh faces as FSN Honorees, but there’s one element that doesn’t waver one measure — each athlete is climbing up the leaderboard on their team exponentially.
Harvard’s got two Freshmen in the mix, UCSD has all of their three contenders ready to embark on their first collegiate season as Tritons, with the overall vast majority being seasoned vets in the sport with several years of high-level experience and exposure to the best caliber rowers in the game. We are confident that these rowers either have or will make a positive impact on their program during their years racing Coast-To-Coast in 2026.
Yes — Any miracle can take shape in College Rowing. New stars will begin to build, other oarsmen will take this season to mature and establish themselves well, and coaches may flip the script and arrange their lineups in non-typical fashion to see if extra speed can be showcased come race day.
Listed below is our general consensus of our unranked selections approaching the Spring 2026 Season’s most burgeoning players.
QUICK STATS:
▪️Athlete Count: 81 (1-3 Per Team)
▪️Conference Count: 4
▪️Team Count: 36
▪️Coxswain Ratio: 2/81
▪️Rower Ratio: 79/81
CRITERIA:
These athletes have successfully earned FSN Honors and were nominated by the FSN Core Staffers multifariously and ultimately decided upon due to the following:
Rowing Season (2024-2025):
▪️Regular Season Matchups
▪️Conference Championship Placement & Results
▪️National Championship Lineups & Results
Rowing Season (2025-2026):
▪️Fall Racing (Regattas & Scrimmages)
Miscellaneous:
▪️Comparative Erg Times
▪️International Results
▪️Positive Yearly Trajectory (Talent & Raw Skill)
▪️Coaching Staff Nominations
Beforehand, be sure to browse our previous editorial selects for 2026 surrounding Men’s Division 1 Rowing:
- FSN “Way Too Early” Top-25 Rankings
- FSN’s Freshman Phenom Coxswains
- FSN’s Freshman Phenom Rowers
- FSN’s Top-10 Under The Radar Rowers
- FSN’s Pre-Season Top-75 Rowers
- FSN’s Top-10 Breakout Coxswains
- FSN’s Top-10 Coxswains
NOMINATIONS: (Name, School)