Owen Main
The legend of the University of Florida concrete canoe dynasty only continues to grow.
The Gators concrete canoe team repeated as champions at the 38th annual finals of the ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition this weekend as part of the 2025 ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Florida has now won four of the last concrete canoe finals dating back to 2019 and five of the last 10 going back to 2015. Clearly, the program is doing something right.
What’s the magic in the concrete mix every year?
“We just have an amazing culture here,” said co-captain Brennan Kade. “Everyone really buys into the program, and every day everyone shows up and gives everything they have to really come together and build the best product that we can every year.”
This year's canoe was named "Reptilia," boasting beautifully rendered artwork on the inside and outside of the boat.
“Our theme this year was invasive species and their impact on native species,” said co-captain Alicia Gemicco. “So on the inside of our canoe, we have a gator that's wrapped around a python. The idea there is that there are invasive species attacking our native species, and we want to mitigate those environmental impacts.”
Virginia Tech followed Florida in the overall standings, impressing with a second-place finish after taking fourth in 2024. Western Kentucky University continued its own remarkable history of concrete canoe excellence, finishing third. Texas A&M finished fourth, and Université Laval was fifth.
The Rochester Institute of Technology team, making the school’s first appearance at the concrete canoe finals since 2004, earned the Spirit of the Competition Award.
Virginia Tech earned the Best Final Product Award. Laval won Best Technical Presentation. Texas A&M received the Best Project Proposal Award.
Florida earned high marks across the board, finishing top five in each category, to further extend its dynasty.
“I think we're still in disbelief,” Gemicco. “It'll all feel real once our canoe goes up in our lab. That's the tradition for UFCC is that the national championship canoes go up in the lab and get displayed. So once our canoe gets displayed there, we’ll feel like we really earned that national championship, and we're just so excited for that moment.”
Owen Main
More excellence
In addition to concrete canoe, the ASCE Student Championships also featured the finals of the Society-wide Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute Surveying Competition, and the Sustainable Solutions Competition, as well as a Timber-Strong Design Build showcase.
This year’s Sustainable Solutions Competition challenged competitors to pitch plans for (the imaginary) City of ASCE to redevelop a five-story commercial office building left nearly empty after pandemic workplace changes.
The University of California, Berkeley finished second, and North Carolina State University was third.
Vanderbilt University earned awards for Most Livable Site and Best Community Space. The Boise State University team was recognized for Best Sustainability Features.
In the UESI Surveying Competition, the University of Toledo rocketed to the top of the standings. Defending champion Purdue University Northwest finished second, followed by the Colorado School of Mines in third.
Learn more about the ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships.
