Sports
SEC announces women’s rowing as new sport: Conference championship set for May 2025
See Texas’ new Longhorn Network studio, marking end to SEC transition
The Texas Longhorns finished their transition to the SEC by unveiling a new Longhorn Network studio inside Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium.
The SEC added a new sport to its conference on Friday, announcing that rowing is now the 13th women’s sport and 22nd overall sport sponsored by the conference.
Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas are the four programs that currently sponsor the sport in the SEC after having previously competed out of the Big 12.
According to the conference, an SEC championship can only be conducted with a minimum of 25% of the league’s membership participating. With the additions of the Sooners and Longhorns to the conference for the 2024-25 athletic calendar, the SEC was able to meet that threshold and sponsor women’s rowing for the first time.
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The conference’s athletic directors voted on the move unanimously.
“The addition of Oklahoma and Texas provides the opportunity to support a new SEC championship experience for rowing student-athletes,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release. “We look forward to providing support to the growth of the sport of rowing in the Southeastern Conference.”
Texas won the Big 12 and national championships last season, while Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma finished second, third and fifth, respectively, in the conference championship event. The site for the 2025 SEC championship has yet to be determined, but will be held in May 2025, according to the announcement.