BOSTON – The Northeastern men's rowing team will take the national stage this weekend as the Huskies travel to Gold River, Calif. for the 123rd IRA Championship on Lake Natoma.
Northeastern has four boats entered into the national championship regatta: the first, second and third varsity eights will race in heats beginning on Friday morning, with the top three finishers advancing to Saturday's A/B Semifinal. The varsity four will compete in a time trial on Friday morning to determine their position in a semifinal race later that afternoon.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1. FRIDAY'S HEATS AND LANE ASSIGNMENTS
Championship heats get underway on Friday morning with the first varsity at 8:32 a.m. (PT). The Huskies, stationed in Lane 2, will go up against Harvard, Boston University, Wisconsin, Holy Cross and MIT. The second varsity follows at 9:20 a.m. (PT) in Lane 2 against Harvard, Penn, Navy, Holy Cross and Oregon State before the 3V goes off at 9:36 a.m. (PT) in Lane 3 against California, Penn, Navy and Holy Cross.
The varsity four time trial kicks off at 11:30 a.m. (PT), with the top 18 finishers advancing to the ABC Semifinals that afternoon beginning at 4 p.m. (PT).
2. NORTHEASTERN'S HISTORY AT THE IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Huskies are making their 58th appearance at the IRAs. Since 1965, Northeastern has appeared in all but three of the prestigious national championship regattas. NU has captured three first-place finishes at the regatta—two by the first varsity (1988, 1991) and one by the second varsity (1979).
In total, Northeastern has appeared in 69 IRA Grand Finals (first varsity: 23, second varsity: 26, third varsity: 3, freshman eight: 15, varsity four: 2), including three appearances from the first varsity in the last six championships.
3. EASTERN SPRINTS RECAP
The Huskies earned automatic qualification into the IRA Championships thanks to one of their most successful performances at the Eastern Sprints in recent memory two weeks ago. Northeastern finished third in the team standings, its highest finish in 20 years, on the backs of Grand Final appearances from the first and second varsity eights. It marked the first time since 2019 that both of Northeastern's top two boats reached the Grand Final.
There, the 1V held off Dartmouth down the stretch to capture the bronze medal to mark the first time the Huskies have reached the podium since 2015, while the second varsity's fourth place finish was the Huskies' best 2V position in nearly a decade.
