UW Crews Remain Undefeated At IRA Nationals

The University of Washington’s varsity eight capped another wildly successful day for the Huskies crew program by scoring a wire-to-wire, open-water victory in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships Friday on the Cooper River at Cherry Hill, NJ.

The No. 1-ranked Huskies, defending national champions, shook off a mid-race move by Boston University and cruised to a five-second victory, clocking 6:14.95. Boston finished second and the University of California third.

Boston clocked 6:19.081, California 6:25.350, Wisconsin 6:30.078, Navy 6:33.564 and Yale 6:38.917.

“This team has been through all sorts of challenges the last few years, so these guys have been tested,” UW crew coach Michael Callahan said. “It’s all about doing the job … the focus has always been internal on what we can do.”

The Huskies can win their second consecutive IRA national championship Saturday. The Huskies, looking for their 15th overall national championship, have not won the IRA regatta in back-to-back years since 1940-41.

In the other varsity eight semifinal, Brown posted an impressive, five-second victory over Harvard, the only crew besides Washington to hold U.S. Rowing’s No. 1 national ranking this season.

Washington’s second varsity eight also posted an impressive, open-water victory. Washington’s time, 6:12.548, beat Harvard by a five-second margin.

Also posting wins were the UW’s freshmen eight, which outraced Northeastern in a time of 6:03.21, and the varsity four, which saw the Huskies pull away late from California.

All of Washington’s times were fastest of the semifinals.

Washington’s IRA Championships