THIS IS DUQUESNE ROWING

Being a part of Duquesne rowing means being part of a strong tradition which spans three decades. The program was launched at the club level during the 1986-87 season and gained Division I varsity status in 1995. The following season, the Atlantic 10 Conference added the sport to its repertoire of Championship events. Over its 23-year history, DU rowing has established itself as one of the most competitive programs in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas as well as a contender in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

From its humble beginnings, Duquesne has taken pride in its successes, which includes the program's first gold medal which was won at the 1999 A-10 Championships when the Novice 4 prevailed and led the Dukes to a seventh place finish. Since that first victory, the Red & Blue has won gold four times and has taken seven silver and 12 bronze medals at the Conference Championship Regatta.

Academically, Duquesne has had 17 student-athletes make the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team a total of 25 times, tying George Washington and trailing only Massachusetts (29) for most all-time in conference history. Additionally, Duquesne is the only school that has won the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year three times. Karen Predmore took home the award in 2003 and Colleen McCroskey was the recipient in 2004 and 2005. The Dukes have earned five ESPN the Magazine District 2 Academic All-America honors and one ESPN National Academic All-American.

In August of 2006, a new era of Duquesne rowing began with the hiring of Joe Setting. Just eight months into his tenure, Setting guided the Dukes to third place finish at the Atlantic 10 Women's Rowing Championship. This was the highest finish the program had since joining the A-10 in 1996. In addition, this was first time that Duquesne won more than one event at the A-10 championships. The Lightweight 4 won their first-ever A-10 Championship event while setting a course record and the Novice 4 won their event for the first time since 1999. In the spring of 2008 the Dukes came home with 3 more medals from the Conference Championship which included a gold medal in the lightweight eight and a silver medal in the quad.

The team has begun to see their name in the national spotlight over the past two years with their lightweight four receiving an invitation to compete in the first ever lightweight women's four championship at the IRA National Championship in 2007. The lightweight program has continued to see the spotlight being ranked consistently as one of the top 15 lightweight eights in the nation, according to the USRowing collegiate poll, and earned a bid back to the IRA in the eight.