CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 5 Harvard lightweight crew heads to New Jersey for the 2015 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships this weekend. The Crimson is looking to medal for the seventh-straight year and its first title since 2013.
Racing for the lights begins Saturday, May 30 at 8:48 a.m. with the straight four heat. The varsity eight heats begin Sunday at 8 a.m. and the final race is later that afternoon at 12:20 p.m.
Boatings
First Varsity
Coxswain: Catherine Gildea; Stroke: Connor Mangan; 7: Daniel Bridgwater; 6: Thomas Marshall; 5: Andre Dempsey; 4: Jordan Rogers; 3: Jack Kelly; 2: Alexander Bonorris; Bow: Michael Wales
Varsity Four
Coxswain: Benjamin Molin; Stroke: Samuel Frum; 3: Christopher Magnani; 2: Emanuel Ritschard; Bow: Christopher Wales
Straight Four
Stroke: Andre Dupuis; 3: Cayman Bearly-Malinowski; 2: Alexander Harding; Bow: Ian Klein
Race Schedule
Saturday
8:48 a.m. – ML4- heat
9 a.m. – ML4- heat
9:12 a.m. – ML4+ heat
9:24 a.m. – ML4+ heat
1:48 p.m. – ML4- petite final
2 p.m. – ML4- grand final
2:12 p.m. – ML4+ petite final
2:24 p.m. – ML4+ grand final
Sunday
8 a.m. – ML8 heat
8:10 a.m. – ML8 heat
12:08 p.m. – ML8 petite final
12:20 p.m. – ML8 grand final
The Field
Harvard will join the five other Ivy League lightweight crews, Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Princeton and Yale, at the IRA regatta along with MIT and Navy in varsity eight competition. The same schools will send coxless fours and Georgetown, Mercyhurst, Temple and Wisconsin will enter fours.
IRA National Championships (nine): 1991, '94, '95, '97, '99, '01, '03, '12, '13
The 113th IRA National Championships
The lightweights have been rowing at the IRA Regatta since 1990, when the event became the national championship for lightweight crew. Prior to competing at IRAs, the Crimson competed at the Empire State Regatta for the national title. Harvard has won nine national titles since 1990 with the most recent coming in 2013. The Crimson also captured IRA national titles in 1991, '93, '95, '97, '99, 2001, '03 and '12 and has medaled in eight of the last nine years.
Sprints Recap
The Crimson varsity eight claimed fifth at the 2015 Sprints, while the second varsity eight lived up to its billing as the top-ranked team and won the gold in its grand final.
Last Season
The Crimson rebounded from finishing fifth at the Eastern Sprints to take home the silver medal at the IRA National Championships. Harvard posted a 6-3 record during the dual season.
In the Launch
Michiel Bartman enters his second season as the Friends of Harvard Lightweight Rowing Coach for Men's Lightweight Crew after earning a silver medal a season ago at the IRA National Championships. An Olympic champion, a three-time Olympic medalist and a 16-year coaching veteran, Bartman improved the Radcliffe lightweight women's performance in each of his first two seasons at Weld.
