STORY COURTESY CAL ATHLETICS | PHOTO BY ZACH FRANZEN/KLC FOTOS
WEST WINDSOR, N.J., – The No. 1 California men’s rowing team opened the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships in dominating fashion as all three varsity eights won their opening round heats at Mercer Lake on Friday morning to secure a spot in Saturday’s A/B semifinals. The first and second varsity eights also had the fastest times of the day among their respective groups, while the varsity four had the fastest time in the time trials.
“It was a good day of racing across the entire team,” Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. “There is a lot of racing still ahead of us, but I’m pleased with the results and initial performances of each boat. We’ll have to get better and better each day, but I’m happy with how the team handled everything today. We’re not celebrating the wins, but it is a good sign of team strength and depth that all four of our boats won their preliminary races and can build confidence off of that.”
The varsity eight opened the morning and took an early two-seat lead right off the start over Dartmouth, which was followed by Brown. At about the 1,000-meter mark, the Bears built a slight open-water gap over Brown and continued to manage the lead. The Brown Bears pushed Cal over the second half of the race, walking down over a half-boat. But the Golden Bears’ pace was strong enough to hold them off, finishing just over a second ahead for first place in a time of 05:32.200.
In the second varsity eight race, Cal got off to a strong start and took the early lead which quickly grew to seven seats over Dartmouth by the 500-meter mark. The Bears grew their lead to a slight bit of open water by the halfway mark. Cal didn’t let up and continued to push over the second half of the race, growing its lead to over a boat of open water over Dartmouth to cruise to the win in a time of 05:42.991.
In the third varsity eight competition, Cal and Brown moved ahead of the pack early before the Bears were able to take a six-seat lead after the first 500 meters. The Bears grew their lead by the halfway mark, generating a bow-to-stern advantage over Brown. Cal maintained its pace to keep a comfortable lead and cruise to the win and a spot in the A/B semifinal in a time of 05:49.404.
The varsity four went out in the seventh slot for the time trials and came through with the fastest overall time in 6:16.974 to advance to the A/B/C semifinal round, which was scheduled for later in the afternoon. Right after the crew took the water for its semifinal, all races were suspended for the day due to inclement weather.
The Bears return to the water Saturday when the V8+ kick things off at 7:54 a.m. EDT and look to secure a spot in the Grand Final. The 2V8+ will look to do the same in its semifinal race at 8:10 a.m. followed by the 3V8+ at 8:34 a.m. The V4+ advanced directly to the Grand Final due to the suspension of races, which takes place at 9:30 a.m.
Friday Results
V8+
1. California – 05:32.200
2. Brown – 05:33.598
3. Dartmouth – 05:35.772
4. Drexel – 05:56.070
5. MIT – 06:09.010
6. Columbia – 06:11.344
2V8+
1. California – 05:42.991
2. Dartmouth – 05:49.053
3. Cornell – 05:57.905
4. Drexel – 06:01.763
5. Columbia – 06:22.827
3V8+
1. California – 05:49.404
2. Brown – 05:51.950
3. Pennsylvania – 05:58.458
4. Boston – 06:03.936
5. Oregon St – 06:11.612
6. Drexel – 06:25.874
Saturday Schedule (all times EDT)
V8+ A Semifinal
7:54 a.m.
Lanes 2-7: Dartmouth, Northeastern, Cal (4), Washington, Pennsylvania, Harvard
2V8+ A Semifinal
8:10 a.m.
Lanes 2-7: Cornell, Yale, Cal (4), Brown, Syracuse, Pennsylvania
3V8+ B Semifinal
8:34 a.m.
Lanes 2-7: Boston, Washington, Yale, Cal (5), Princeton, Navy
V4+ Grand Final
9:30 a.m.
Lanes 2-7: Dartmouth, FIT, Cal (4), Temple, Northeastern, Navy
Lineups
V8+
Coxswain – Luca Vieira
Stroke – Iwan Hadfield
7 – Angus Dawson
6 – Tim Roth
5 – Ollie Maclean
4 – Gennaro di Mauro
3 – Gus Rodriguez
2 – Frederik Breuer
Bow – Campbell Crouch
2V8+
Coxswain – Iliad Izadi
Stroke – Tommy Barrell
7 – Elliott Kemp
6 – Tobias Kristensen
5 – Fred Roper
4 – Balthasar Issa
3 – Matthew Gallagher
2 – Daton Wolfaardt
Bow – Wilson Morton
3V8+
Coxswain – Ethan Nghiem
Stroke – Dan Bradbery
7 – Keith Ryan
6 – Alex Baroni
5 – Matthew Waddell
4 – Thomas Heerding
3 – Luciano Andreuccetti
2 – Tyler Kurth
Bow – Pablo Moreno
4V+
Coxswain – Savannah Adamo
4 – Bret Holt
3 – Harry Manton
2 – Henry Furrer
1 – Joshua Anderson
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