With the IRA falling victim to the COVID-19 crisis this year, row2k offers you our Virtual IRA 2020; we've taken 16 of the top IRA Lightweight Eight Champion crews going back to the 2000 IRA, and created matchups using our proprietary seeding formula. The top crews from each matchup will move on to the next round each week, until a champion is crowned.

Voting for Round I is open from Monday, April 27th until Friday, May 1st (5pm EST)

Princeton 2009

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2009 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Princeton 6:03.227
Yale 6:08.001
Harvard 6:09.598
Georgetown 6:12.927
Cornell 6:13.421
Navy 6:14.798
Columbia 6:24.693

Cleveland (cox)
Prendes
Leonard
Teti
Paulette
Donovan
Klien
Kruger
Dillon
Coach: Hughes

The crew's 4.8 second winning margin was the largest LM8+ in the last 20 years. The first of 2012 Olympian Robin Prendes two IRA LM8+ titles.

VS

Yale 2005

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2005 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Yale 5:41.89
Cornell 5:43.39
Penn 5:44.71
Harvard 5:45.45
Georgetown 5:45.82
Navy 5:46.9

Halsey (cox)
Werner
Fahrendorf
Fallon
Ramsay
Towne
Young
Jarmuz
Kennedy
Coach: Card

3rd time against the Crimson was the charm for this crew, as they finally caught Harvard in the rubber match to win the IRA; Cornell and Penn emerged as the contenders in this final, but the Elis held on to become the first crew not named Harvard to win an IRA in an odd year.

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Princeton 2009 vs. Yale 2005 (IRA LM)

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Yale 2005

53.4% (914 votes)

 

Princeton 2009

46.5% (796 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1711

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Cornell 2015

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2015 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Cornell 5:38.989
Columbia 5:41.042
Harvard 5:41.965
Princeton 5:44.708
Yale 5:49.146
Penn 5:50.902

Falb (cox)
Johnson
Rogers
O'Neill
Ruske
Oprea
Hooker
Harris
Clauss
Coach: Kerber

The crew led the final from pillar to post, ahead of a brutal battle for silver between Columbia and Harvard, to secure the Big Red's 2nd back-to-back championship.

VS

Harvard 2003

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2003 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Harvard 5:54.94
Columbia 5:56.93
Georgetown 5:58.74
Cornell 5:59.73
Princeton 6:01.11
Delaware 6:08.98

Tisch (cox)
Haas
Kummer
Stephens
Blannin
Rogers
Mercaldi
Binkley
Sattelmair

Harvard had a perfect record before falling to Navy, then took 4th at Sprints, but rebounded to win the IRA with a great start, leading the whole way to gold--was the last "odd-year" champion for Harvard in a streak that went back to 1991.

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Cornell 2015 vs. Harvard 2003 (IRA LM)

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Cornell 2015

78.0% (1452 votes)

 

Harvard 2003

21.6% (403 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1862

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Yale 2002

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2002 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Yale 5:38.13
Navy 5:38.54
Princeton 5:42.4
Columbia 5:46.63
Cornell 5:49.74
Dartmouth 5:54.53

Tierney (cox)
Ralph
Toro
Malloch
Liverman
Hamilton
Feins
Ng
Gibson
Coach: Card

The two-time defending Sprints Champs avenged their 2001 IRA loss to Harvard, holding off Navy by .4 for the win; the crew rechristened their shell after a Yale legend.

VS

Columbia 2018

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2018 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Columbia 6:18.782
Princeton 6:19.514
Harvard 6:24.255
Penn 6:26.130
Navy 6:28.429
Yale 6:33.264

Zionts (cox)
Zisimidis
Amsterdam
Landis
Smith
Southerland
Krappe
Carlgren
Beckett
Coach: Parker

Down off the start to eventual silver medalist Princeton, this crew had a one-loss regular season and a Sprints title en route to just the 2nd National Championship ever for Columbia Lights.

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Yale 2002 vs. Columbia 2018 (IRA LM)

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Yale 2002

51.6% (980 votes)

 

Columbia 2018

47.7% (906 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1898

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Cornell 2008

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2008 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Cornell 5:39.194
Navy 5:40.782
Yale 5:41.203
Princeton 5:41.948
Georgetown 5:45.827
Dartmouth 5:50.715

Quinn (cox)
Kochem
Psiaki
Boyce
Bunnell
Brabeck
Carbone
Fort
Gavalas
Coach: Kennett

Rowed through a fast-starting Princeton in last 400 meters to notch the first (and only!) three-peat in IRA lightweight history. Kochem, Psiaki & Bunnell rowed in all three winning crews.

VS

Harvard 2012

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2012 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Harvard 5:33.059
Dartmouth 5:34.035
Yale 5:36.671
Georgetown 5:37.966
Cornell 5:42.397
Princeton 5:43.258
Columbia 5:47.795

Chang (cox)
Mayr
Newell
Moore
Gates
Taylor
Schultze
O'Leary
Wales
Coach: Butt

Harvard posted the fastest lightweight winning time in IRA history.

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Cornell 2008 vs. Harvard 2012 (IRA LM)

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Cornell 2008

69.9% (1241 votes)

 

Harvard 2012

29.4% (522 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1775

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Cornell 2007

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2007 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Cornell 5:46.3
Harvard 5:47.5
Georgetown 5:47.5
Dartmouth 5:48.5
Yale 5:51.8
Navy 5:52.2

Banes (cox)
Litt
Kochem
Bunnell
Brabeck
Gavalas
Psiaki
Symington
Heidt
Kennett

Came from the pack in the middle thousand to become first back-to-back winner in IRA lightweight history.

VS

Yale 2011

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2011 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Yale 5:39.904
Harvard 5:39.926
Dartmouth 5:41.860
Cornell 5:46.308
Princeton 5:49.247
Columbia 5:53.338

McBurney (cox)
Hakanson
Corcoran
Walker
Swartz
Zeng
Hausheer
Harrington
Chandler
Coach: Card

Yale's 22/100s of a second winning margin was the closest Varsity Lightweight final in the past 20 years; the crew was 3rd at HYP and 3rd at Eastern Sprints prior to the IRA.

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Cornell 2007 vs. Yale 2011 (IRA LM)

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Cornell 2007

68.5% (1212 votes)

 

Yale 2011

31.4% (555 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1770

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Columbia 2016

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2016 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Columbia 5:52.060
Yale 5:54.460
Princeton 5:58.590
Penn 6:00.330
Cornell 6:02.580
Harvard 6:05.400

Ku (cox)
Landis
Mottola
Carlgren
Solberg
Ross
Monahan
Ingram
Maloney
Coach: Parker

The crew had open water on the field with 750 to go, winning Columbia's first eights national championship since 1929 and first lightweight title ever.

VS

Cornell 2019

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2019 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Cornell 5:44.426
Princeton 5:44.849
Penn 5:46.244
Columbia 5:47.573
Yale 5:49.914
Navy 5:50.086

Rochford (cox)
Lee
Bertossa
Koszyk
Anderson
Krum
Ellis
Tigerman
Hickey
Coach: Kerber

Cornell rebounded to win the IRA three weeks after failing to make the Grand Final at the Eastern Sprints as the #1 seed.

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Columbia 2016 vs. Cornell 2019 (IRA LM)

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Cornell 2019

60.4% (1330 votes)

 

Columbia 2016

39.3% (866 votes)

 

Total Votes: 2202

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Navy 2004

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2004 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Navy 6:05.02
Georgetown 6:08.67
Princeton 6:12.47
Yale 6:15.67
Harvard 6:16.28
Cornell 6:21.94

Fitzpatrick (cox)
Washburn
Sopko
Flaherty
Michel
Smith
Rivera
Vuillet
Barlow
Coach: Friedrich

Navy's first lightweight "triple crown" crew: undefeated dual season, Sprints Champs, IRA Champs. Only crew in the bracket that produced a National team rower, an MD, a Navy SEAL and a Top Gun pilot.

VS

Cornell 2017

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2017 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Cornell 5:40.172
Penn 5:41.087
Yale 5:43.072
Harvard 5:43.321
Princeton 5:45.778
Columbia 5:45.976

Steinl (cox)
Lecorgne
O'Neill
Koszyk
Schmidt
Pinnola-Vizza
Ellis
Ruske
Johnson
Coach: Kerber

Undefeated crew: won Sprints and led wire-to-wire at IRA after coming 5th in 2016.

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Navy 2004 vs. Cornell 2017 (IRA LM)

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Navy 2004

50.1% (1518 votes)

 

Cornell 2017

49.6% (1502 votes)

 

Total Votes: 3029

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Harvard 2013

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2013 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Harvard 5:54.221
Yale 5:55.241
Columbia 5:55.744
Dartmouth 5:55.968
Cornell 6:00.193
Princeton 6:00.435

Farber (cox)
Mayr
Campbell
O'Leary
Gates
Taylor
Meyer
Wales
Bonorris
Coach: Butt

The crew featured '16 Olympian Andrew Campbell, racing his future Olympic 2x partner, Dartmouth's Josh Konieczny

VS

Princeton 2010

Results

Lineup

Factoid

2010 IRA Lightweight 8+ Grand Final
Princeton 5:36.065
Navy 5:37.059
Harvard 5:38.017
Yale 5:39.256
Georgetown 5:42.055
Dartmouth 5:52.225
Pennsylvania 5:53.826

Perl (cox)
Prendes
Leonard
Donovan
Klien
Volpe
Lachance
Rubert
Donald
Coach: Crotty

Won Sprints and rowed an at-the-time IRA record time of 5:36 to take the IRA; only back-to-back IRA champ under different head coaches.

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Harvard 2013 vs. Princeton 2010 (IRA LM)

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Harvard 2013

50.6% (704 votes)

 

Princeton 2010

48.4% (673 votes)

 

Total Votes: 1390

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