The 2015 IRA National Championship Regatta: RR Recap and Review

The view from Conibear Shellhouse (Photo: B. Kitch)

In large part, the 2015 IRA confirmed our suspicions. That is to say, when all was said and done, our preseason picks didn't look all that bad. But how they got there is a whole different story.

Heavyweight Rowing
For several of the teams in action on Mercer Lake over the weekend, the 2015 spring season was one that presented new challenges, and without exception, the familiar dynasties that have been built over the past few years rose to the occasion. There was perhaps no better example of this than our preseason no. 1 pick, Washington, who suffered a setback at home against arch rival Cal at the Dual, and then a second straight loss at the Windermere Cup a week later—a Husky fan on the scene at Opening Day commented that "they're breaking our hearts" so far this year. But the close loss to the Kiwis on the Cut was a moral victory for the Dawgs, and they rode that wave of momentum right into Pac-12s, where they reversed the margin on California but roughly seven seconds (the Bears had won the Dual by roughly 3 seconds, while the Huskies took Pac-12s by over a length).


Still, even that doesn't do justice to what the modern-era Huskies have accomplished. By now, it's certainly well known that Washington accomplished something unprecedented in the history of the IRA on Saturday (that is, winning five straight titles), but it's even more impressive when you look at it in the context of their own program: This is, by far, the most successful era in the history of Washington Husky Rowing at IRAs.


Before the Huskies won in 2007, their last IRA title had come in 1997. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1970, and then 1950 to see the Huskies winning it all. Yes, men's head coach Mike Callahan took over a successful program when he returned to Conibear Shellhouse, but what he has done with it since then is truly remarkable. Hats off, Huskies.

While they couldn't quite topple the Huskies this year, California did have another solid performance across the board, missing the podium in just one event (the second varsity eight, where the Bears finished fourth), and gave the proceedings a distinctly West Coast feel. The Bears varsity eight fought very well to hold on to the front runners, and held off a great charge by the Princeton Tigers in the final 250 meters to take silver, also earning the second-highest point total as a team at the regatta. And, they'll be back—the Golden Bears varsity eight featured two freshmen and just one senior this year, so 2016 should be very interesting, to say the least.



Other notes: Princeton had another strong season and finished very well at IRAs—Greg Hughes' program seems to be on the cusp of something great; the reversal of the results for Yale and Harvard from Eastern Sprints will certainly add interest to this year's Harvard-Yale Regatta, coming up shortly; the Brown Bears had a tough year in terms of raw results—they battled well, landing all three of their varsity eights in the finals, but were unable to quite find the same top-end speed they've enjoyed in the past.

Lightweight Rowing
What can we say? It looks like Cornell is ready to relive the late aughts, as they set themselves up for what could be a second three-peat of IRA victories next year with a second-consecutive undefeated season in the varsity eight. The Columbia Lions certainly made things as tough as possible for Big Red, but just couldn't quite get over the hump, while the Crimson once again showed up when it counted, and confirmed our early season suspicions.



Meanwhile, on the women's side, the Stanford Lightweights are beginning to look a bit like UW: the Cardinal won their fifth title in six seasons, the first in what could be many under the guidance of new head coach Derek Byrnes. And, not only did Stanford take the eight, but also the four en route to a team victory in West Windsor.



You can find complete 2015 IRA Regatta results here.

Coming up tomorrow: A look back at the most impressive performances at the NCAA Rowing Championships, where a dynasty prevailed in Division I, while new champions were crowned in DII and DIII.

-RR

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s up before 4:30am. So, wh
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

Image
This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland.  As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just ove
Read more