Spectators watch the Sarasota 2K from the beach at Nathan Benderson. Photo by Joe Meischke Jr.

This past week, Nathan Benderson Park proved once again why it is one of the top rowing venues in the sport. From March 26 to 28, Nathan Benderson hosted the 2026 Sarasota 2K – Sun, Rowing, and Rivalry, a regatta featuring some of the top men’s and women’s collegiate rowing programs.

“This is probably the best course in North America,” says Paul Cooke, Men’s Crew Head Coaching Chair at Brown University. “To be able to come down here to this venue, to race against this level of competition in such fair conditions is special. Even the practices are better—the guys are excited to race.”

The Sarasota 2K, previously known as the IRA Sarasota Invitational, was the launching pad for Nathan Benderson Park’s reputation as a world class rowing venue. Originally catering to a smaller number of Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (FIRA) schools, the Sarasota 2K has blossomed into a regatta that tests the mettle of the nation’s top teams. This year’s regatta featured a slew of Ivy League powerhouses such Brown, Harvard and Yale as well as former national champions and current contenders like the University of Washington, Stanford, Northeastern University and more. Florida powerhouses University of Central Florida (UCF), University of Miami and Stetson University also competed in the Sarasota 2K.

“This is the first original event that ever happened at the park,” says Bruce C. Patneaude, COO of Nathan Benderson Park. “It started out as a FIRA event and has only grown since then. What’s different about this regatta is that most of our events are youth-sports focused and this is actually collegiate. This is the next-level of competition that youth rowers get to see firsthand.”

With the competitive, “championship” stretch of the collegiate rowing season running from March to late May, the Sarasota 2K offered the chance for coaches to get an honest assessment of where their programs stand at this point in the year. Both the men’s and women’s competition featured repeat winners from 2025, with Washington winning the Benderson Cup on the men’s side and UCF taking home the trophy for the women.

Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota, 34235

Spectators watch the Sarasota 2K from the beach at Nathan Benderson. Photo by Joe Meischke Jr.

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