The Cal men's V8 again proved too strong for the field, notching their first IRA win in 6 years, while the Columbia Light Men and the Princeton Lightweight women took the marquee eights in their respective divisions.
Even over 100 years into the running of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship, the regatta continues to provide firsts. To wit, today the Yale heavies won the Ten Eyck points trophy for the first time ever and the MIT Lightweight Women won the first-ever IRA gold for their institution.
Heavyweight Men
The Cal Bears used an irresistible first 500m to take the lead, and then withstood all challenges to win their first IRA V8 title since 2016.
"I think we always have a good healthy respect for the crews in the next lanes, Yale, Washington and Brown," said Cal head coach Scott Frandsen after the final. "You always know that an inspired race from from any of the top crews can can put them right up there with the leaders. I think we were as much as you can be completely focused on our performance. And if the guys did that, and performed well, or executed their race plan, well, I was pretty confident it would put us in a good position to fight for the win."
"They were loose and confident. It has been such a pleasure to work with this combination all year, because nothing has gotten them tight. Nothing's gotten them nervous. They're just really confident in in themselves and confident in the in the knowledge that they're going to perform when needed, and today was going to be that day where when push came to shove, in that third 500 or fourth 500, how would they react? And they reacted really, really well."
The title the first ever Varsity eight IRA win for head coach Scott Frandsen, 20 years after his own last victory in the Cal V8 at the 2002 IRA.
"There are some elements of validation about what we're doing, and there's definitely a validation that what we're doing is working, but I'll credit our group of athletes that we have, they got the job done. We provided the framework, we provided the training, but it's them who create the personality of our group. This is the guys' time and this is their story and their slice of history. What a great day for them."
Yale was second, and Yale head coach Steve Gladstone acknowledged that his crew simply could not match Cal on the day.
"I was hoping that we could run with them in the second and third 500, and we weren't able to do that," said Gladstone. "The preparation these guys brought through the course of the year was excellent. For the competitors and the coaches, that's initially a tough pill to swallow. No excuses. No extenuating circumstances, today they were just two seconds faster."
Brown, who have been right in the main pack all year took bronze, for their best finish at the IRA since 2014.
In the 2V, it was Yale striding away, with Cal and Dartmouth rounding out the medals. Yale also won the 3V, breaking a streak of nine straight wins in the event by Washington. Harvard finished second and Washington was third.
Yale claimed the Ten Eyck trophy for heavyweight overall points for the first time ever, and also marking the first time since 2005 that a team other than Cal or Washington has won it.
"This was without question our strongest overall performance at the IRA, no doubt whatsoever," said Gladstone. "Winning the team trophy is a terrific thing."
Lightweight Men
The Columbia Lights bounced back from a disappointing showing at the Eastern Sprints three weeks ago in some style, leading almost from the jump to take the Men's Lightweight Eight ahead of Navy and Georgetown.
Coach Nich Lee Parker credited his team's resilience in overcoming disruptions from Covid and injuries to finally showing their top-end speed.
"I believe that that was the race they were capable of, and it was more about putting together the pieces to achieve it," said Parker. "This was the first time we've been able to practice a lineup and actually race it this season. Previously, we only practiced together at most four times in any lineup, this time we didn't have any injuries or little COVID things pop up. The biggest fuel for them was the belief that they could do it, that they could get enough time practicing together and learning how to work together and creating speed together. That was the biggest motivator for these guys."
The Mids, who finished only third behind Georgetown and Columbia in the opening heat on Friday, did themselves one better today to snatch a silver medal.
"We tried our hardest not to make the the A final on Friday, but luckily we were able to be in a pretty fast heat!" said Navy lightweight head coach Shawn Bagnall after the final. "You saw the three fastest times from the first 1V heats were also the three medalists today. I think we came out in the heat looking outside of the boat, and I think that was not very typical of us. We knew that Columbia would be picking up speed this time of year. That's the great thing about the lightweight league as you know, from regatta to regatta, it can be anybody's game, we know that and we respect that, and respect the hell out of the the other teams in the league. The best formula for us was to stay internal, and I think we did a nice job of doing that today."
Navy picked up the win in the Lightweight Men's 2V eight, breaking open a close race in the middle 1000 to take the win ahead of Cornell and Columbia.
Navy and Columbia ended up tied in the points trophy standings, with Columbia winning on the tiebreak in the 1V.
"I just want to say that practicing with our heavyweights and our women's team and getting everybody pushing together had a huge impact on this team being able to perform today," said Parker. "When you're scraping for every inch of performance, it really adds an outsized value."
Ironically, Navy also tied Yale in the Jope Cup standings at the Eastern Sprints a few weeks ago, and lost on the 1V tiebreak then as well, having finished second to Yale in that event.
Bagnall acknowledged that the Lightweight Four, which is not included in the points tally and which Navy won yesterday, would have tipped the balance in the Mids' favor. "I'd be lying if I told you I didn't [want the fours to be included], and honestly, when we as a group moved to the 1V/2V format, I was really advocating for the four to be included, much in the way the the women's NCAA structure is set up. But I also understand that the point allocation on the heavyweight side doesn't include the four."
"I understand both arguments, but that that doesn't mean I'm any less passionate about having the four count for some points. Those guys in the four definitely helped us as a team get to where we're at."
Lightweight Women
The Princeton Lightweights went all out early, and rewarded themselves with a one-length win over charging Georgetown and Stanford Eights. For Princeton, who won a two-boat race with Mercyhurst last year to win this title, the repeat performance in a full field was just as special.
"Last year we were just really grateful to have an opportunity for our seniors to race race their careers out and end on a high note," said Princeton lighweight women's coach Paul Rassam. "This year, it's just great. First of all, to be out there in a field that was getting faster and faster. That definitely added some drama to it and some intensity. Both were incredible experiences, but very different."
Princeton's Isabel Boehle and Kasey Shashaty won the Light Women's Double going away, ahead of BU and Radcliffe.
Princeton took the Women's Lightweight points trophy, and, reflecting on the team championship, Rassam noted that his team was very young and still getting better.
"We're graduating one person from the eight and one person from the four. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen, and some key seats in all the boats. We view this as chapter one of a longer story and something that the athletes that came before us set up for them."
"We just have a really resilient team. We have a lot of a lot of athletes who just continue to train and believe through through all the shutdowns and obstacles. The ones who were seniors last year, and our class of 2020 seniors that had their spring shut down, they came to the Eastern Sprints this year to cheer on the team and to encourage them. All of those classes are a part of what's happening right now. They set the tone and kept us going."
The Engineers from MIT threw down what was likely the most decisive move of the day in the Women's Lightweight Four; if the official timing is to be believed, MIT pulled a split a full six seconds ahead of their closest competitors to move from fourth at the 1000m into the lead, and then controlled the race ahead of Radcliffe and BU to take the win.
"According to, to my rowers, that's just the way they always run the race!" said MIT lighweight coach Claire Martin-Doyle after the race. "They're incredibly talented physiologically, and the plan was to just get to work in the middle 1000, and they executed. Incredibly. It was amazing. I'm going to have a cocktail later!"
This is the first IRA championship for the MIT women, well done.
"I'm just so excited and so incredibly proud of them and our whole boathouse," added Martin-Doyle. "From a coaching standpoint, it takes being able to read your team and figure out where they're at. Every year at MIT is very different academically, freshman to senior year. So, depending on where a kid is, there are times in their MIT career where they can train more, and so we sort of have to manage the team practices from one angle, and then try and get kids doing more work on their own, which they want to do."
"It's been a many years team effort by everyone in the boathouse and I'm so grateful to have that environment to coach in. It's one of the big reasons why we're all able to do so well."
Notes from the Course
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— Cal Athletics (@CalAthletics) June 5, 2022
California earns its 100th team national championship with today’s @CalMRowing title!#GoBears pic.twitter.com/dU9DVVAmHD
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06/07/2022 2:37:23 PM
06/07/2022 9:46:57 AM
06/05/2022 10:53:01 PM
06/05/2022 10:50:36 PM
“College rowing is the lifeblood of our national team program, and I encourage all our college athletes and coaches to become part of the national team identification process. We have the tradition and culture; we have the knowledge and talent. Let's start turning those dreams into a reality.”
I’d say he is very out of touch with reality!
06/05/2022 10:50:11 PM