DALLAS – SMU rowing's regular season gauntlet was brief but intense. 

From the first official competition in early April, the Mustangs faced off with some of the nation's best programs, including Ohio State, Indiana and Texas, the defending national champion. 

The schedule featured three events in the span of four weeks, with travel all over the country. The insight they gleaned during that stretch – tough today makes for a better tomorrow. Those are lessons they intend to take into the program's inaugural appearance at the ACC Championship. 

"We've had one weekend of racing, one week to kind get back in the saddle and train and then we're back at it. I think that we've faced trials and tribulations, but we've come out stronger each time because of it," senior Paige Horton said. "We have to go out there (to the ACC Championship) ready from the start, and I think we're ready to do that which is a super exciting position to be in. But we also know that we're racing teams that are not messing around. They're going to show up and give us a run for our money. But I think that's exactly the challenge we're looking for."

SMU's first trip to the ACC Championship in Clemson, S.C., on Friday and Saturday will cap off a whirlwind first season in the new conference. 

Following a scrimmage with Oklahoma and Texas in early March, the Mustangs had about a month layover before the regular season started in Columbus, Ohio, with a three-team battle between Ohio State and Indiana. 

After an off weekend, SMU went to the Big Ten Invite in Florida, then down to Austin for the Longhorn Invite a week later. That competition wrapped on April 26, giving the Mustangs one final break before returning to the water. 

While the program has a history of success in the postseason, the ACC presents a very different challenge. SMU won the last four American Athletic Conference titles to secure four straight appearances in the NCAA Championship field. 

Continuing that tradition of success will certainly be tough, but the Mustangs are ready for adversity. 

"If you had strength of schedule, I don't know that anyone would have faced a more challenging schedule than we have. We've faced last year's reigning national champion in Texas three or four times," SMU coach Chase Graham said.  I knew it would be a challenge putting our young squad who we've put them up against, but what I've learned is that they don't back away from a challenge. They love to compete and they love to be out there competing with the best of the best."

The goal remains the same – get the boat in the water, go fast and try to add new hardware to the trophy case. 

Success in past seasons was a good foundation. The competition in 2025 gave the Mustangs plenty of experience.

Now, they plan to put that insight into action and show their new conference foes what they're made of. 

"I think (being competitive in the ACC and getting back to the NCAA Championship) would just go to show that all this hard work that we've put in, it meant something and that it was worth it. It would show that you're meant to be there, you belong next to those teams. I think that would mean everything to our team," Horton said. "I think that we're there and we're going the right way. I think making the NCAAs would just prove that."