The Heavyweights semis delivered on Saturday, serving up tight racing across what looked to be nine crews with the speed to make the Grand--that's how many crews went 5:36 or faster chasing semi-winners Washington and Cal--but only six lanes on offer. For folks who like speed, it was a show, with 11 of the 12 crews going under 5:40.

While Washington won the Semi 1 on the line with a strong last 500 that pushed past Princeton in the closing strokes, Princeton was perhaps the winner on the day: fully recovered and perhaps a little fired up after dropping the heat to Harvard, the Tigers took the lead from the fast-starting Yale crew in the second thousand and led (most of) the rest of the way.

Who fell out in the "semi of death" in the end? Brown, the Sprints champs, who missed the break in the first 500 and could not charge back through Yale.

In the other semi which was, to be fair, also pretty deadly considering how closely matched Syracuse, Penn, and Northeastern were for the last spot, it was Cal taking the win over Harvard, the darling of the heats yesterday. Syracuse won the final spot ahead of Penn, who just edged Northeastern.

Across the 2V and 3V semis, Washington picked up two more wins, while Princeton (2V) and Cal (3V) picked up one a piece. Those three, along with Harvard are the only teams to make all three Grand Finals for Sunday, so the Ten Eyck Trophy tallying will hinge on those four squads tomorrow.

The Lightweight women got their racing started on Saturday, and Princeton, the defending champ in all three events picked up heat wins in both the double and the four, to go along with a win in the race for lanes amongst the six V8s here to race for the National Championship.

Princeton's top-seeded Light Women's 1V

The day ended with the first four Grand Finals, with Washington winning the Men's Four and Georgetown repeating in the LWT Men's Four. The Division III National Championship wrapped up with Wesleyan winning a heater of a final in the 1V and Tufts picked up the win in the 2V. We will cover the D-III action in a separate report, and talk with first-time winners Wesleyan about their championship.

Heavyweight Men

For all the talk about how tough the semi draw might have looked heading into Saturday, Washington's Michael Callahan said they didn't talk about it much in their camp.

"There's a lot at stake in any semi," he said, "and either way, you need to get yourself qualified, and then put yourself in the best position for success."

Washington certainly did that, pacing with Princeton and then dropping the fastest last 500 to grab the win and a center lane in tomorrow's Grand Final.

"Today was about rowing our race and not getting outside the gunnels. I use the old Bob Moch 'Mind in Boat' idea with them. Regardless of what's going on with those other people fighting for a spot, you have to put down a piece that qualifies you. So that race was maybe the biggest test of focus within your own gunnel. You can't worry about if people are taking fliers in the beginning or have a good base pace in the middle. You're trying to get in the position at the finish line that you want to be in. And we did that."

If Washington can handle everyone else's final swings at them tomorrow, the Huskies are in line to win their 20th IRA Title.

There was no getting around the fact that Princeton, even with a second 2nd place in as many days, had a way better piece today heading into the final--responding to Yale's fast start and then dictating the pace down most of the track before Washington got by them.

"My rule always with the IRA is one day at a time," said Tiger head coach Greg Hughes afterwards. "I think today was a good example of that. You survive and move on.

"Certainly we would have liked to have had slightly more performance yesterday, but we knew where we were at. And hats off to the guys for staying focused and stepping up today.

"That varsity semi draw, that was just one for all time, and I've seen some crazy ones. I looked at that draw and there was a pucker factor there, for sure, and I know every other coach probably felt the same.

"What I think's amazing is that that semi is also what's so cool about where collegiate rowing is now," Hughes added. "And it's great that the regatta has folks like Martin Cross and Meghan Kalmoe here, producing that content and getting it out there. The more people who see what we do and the level, the better it is for our sport.

"Collegiate rowing is now becoming like other collegiate sports, said Hughes when asked about the parity and tight competition in the varsity eights this year. "This is what football teams and basketball teams get to experience. If we do it right, there isn't just one team that always wins, and I think that's what rowing has needed. I don't like this idea that rowing is different or special. It's not. It's an amazing sport, but it's just like those sports.

"You also have to give a ton of credit to what's happening at the youth level in the United States. The growth of youth rowing in the US and around the world has created a really great base.

"And hopefully we can pay it forward, too, and I think there's two things there: can we get more opportunity out to kids that normally don't get it? Kids who can't normally get access, can we change that? Get those kids to row in our boats so our boats look more like our country. And then can we then see that show up at the Olympic level? I want to see rowing in the Olympics. I don't want it to go away, and I think if this kind of racing can be shared, I think it would be huge."

Hughes told the story of one small moment here at this IRA that might point to that future, about one of the STEM-to-Stern kids from Trenton who came to volunteer as a stakeboater, after getting introduced to the sport through Princeton's partnership with STEM-to-Stern and the PNRA boathouse here at Mercer Lake.

"He finished his session out there and he came back and was telling his dad how excited he was that he was holding MIT's boat," said Hughes. "He was saying, 'That's the best school in the country, and I held their boat.' And that's huge."

Lightweight Women

The Lightweight women got their racing started on Saturday, and Princeton, the defending champ in all three events pitched up heat wins in both the double and the four, to along with a win in the race for lanes amongst the six V8s here to race for the National Championship.

Princeton, which swept the LWT women's racing for the first time at last year's IRA, could repeat across the board, but both BU in the double and Stanford in the four posted slightly faster times. So the Tigers may have a battle or two on their hands when the finals come down on Sunday.

Boston won both the four and double at Women's Sprints, but Princeton did get past BU in the heat of the four today, and has also closed the gap on Stanford's four considerably since the losing to them on the Tiger's west coast road trip in April.

Stanford's top-seeded Light Women's Four

In the V8 race which will determine the National Champions, Princeton is the unbeaten favorites, and owns wins against the rest of the field this season.

Varsity Four IRA Champs - Washington

In the Varsity Four, Washington won going away, but there was a pitched battle for the medals behind them, with Dartmouth emerging for the silver, and FIT winning their programs first-ever IRA medal by grabbing the bronze. For FIT, the hardware capped a steady climb in the event, from fifth in 2022, to fourth in 2023--and was all the more remarkable for the program having been cut after 2022 before being brought back last spring thanks to a court ruling. You can read more about the FIT four in yesterday's report, and about their fight to save their program here.

Washington's win in the four capped a Saturday for the Huskies where every boat won their race: from all three semis in the eights to the gold for the four. One year ago, the fours win--by Cal--was a preview of things to come on Sunday, and like Cal, Washington approaches the four with a similar emphasis on bringing a deep, full team to the IRA.

"At Washington we're a big state school and so the full team mentality, where everyone participates in the success of the whole, is something we're trying to breed that into the whole program," said head coach Callahan.

"Everyone, even if you're the last erg, you're still helping the 1V, still contributing to the success of the whole team, and have your own unique way of doing that: on the erg, in the pair, with your attitude, what have you. To me, it's really important to have a big, strong team and I think what you find is that when we have it going well, and every boat is going well, it's contagious. It's fun to be in the varsity four, and it's fun to be in the 3V. Guys can be at all different levels of their development through the program and we're putting value on all of it.

"You're getting on the start line, you're representing each other, and you're rowing for each other," Callahan said.

Light Men's Four IRA Champs - Georgetown

For the second year in a row, Georgetown's Light men made the most out of missing the IRA in their eight by bringing it with their four and taking the gold. They won this year ahead of Columbia, who also missed out on an IRA bid this year. A group out of the Penn 3V kept it close, and won the bronze.

For Georgetown captain Finn Callaghan, this gold is the third medal he's won at the IRAs, and his coach Matt Madigan is pretty sure that makes Callaghan the most decorated lightweight rower in the program's history at the IRA. Callaghan won a bronze in the eight in 2022, and now two golds in the four.

The past two years, winning here has meant rallying after a disappointing finish at Sprints, so we asked Callaghan, who stroked the crew, what that takes.

"We just emphasized our values that we've set since day one," Callaghan said. "One of the things we believe in is setting a really high bar for ourselves and competing at the top level.

"Another one of our values is just work hard and support your teammates. It's basic stuff, but those little things can be really hard to do, especially when these big moments come and emotions get involved. So, nothing special. Just the basics. I'm glad we had a really strong group and we went through a selection camp and got the top four."

Callaghan was on the team in 2022 when the team went through a stretch without a coach before Madigan came on board, and the team came out of that winter to have their best spring in a long time, eventually winning a V8 bronze at the IRA. We asked Callaghan what he and the team learned from that year.

"Your coach isn't going to row you down the course," Callaghan said. "You really have to take ownership of your boat, your seat; every stroke and every moment you have with each other. That period where we didn't have a coach was a catalyst to bring forth the guys who really wanted to do it for the right reasons.

"That was definitely a difficult moment for the team. We lost a of couple guys. But it also was a great lesson for us. We really learned that you don't need a coach. I mean, obviously it helps, but to row the eight, it's such an intrinsic thing. I'm really glad we came out of that period without a coach strong. When Coach Madigan stepped in, he was there to support us for sure, but I think that whole period actually helped us in a positive way."

For Finn Murphy in the two seat, this gold was his first IRA win, after missing a lot of last year with a injury, and we asked him how the race went, especially in the early going before they broke away.

"Columbia jumped us in the semi yesterday, so we were worried about them and knew they were our main competitors," Murphy said, noting that these were the two crews with 1V guys aboard.

"We stayed internal. We knew they had a fast start, and they jumped us off the start again, but we focused on getting to our base pace and not caring if they were up."

"After a disappointing Sprints result, and not qualifying in the eight, this boat is guys who look at this as an opportunity to get better for next year," said Murphy.

"And what better way to get better at winning races than to go out there and win a race?"

Sunday Awaits

Nothing left now but finals which should be, to use the one word commentator Megan Kalmoe came up with: "bananas"--can't wait.

Find all you need to know here to catch the Sunday racing at the 121st IRA Regatta: How to Watch and What to Watch For

That IRA winning feeling!