2011 IRA Men's Rowing National Championship Comprehensive

Note: Because the 2011 IRA does not have a website, we are compiling this information to provide background and all pertinent information on the IRA Regatta for fans at home and those planning to attend.  If we missed something, or there is additional information you think would benefit rowing fans, please email them to webdev@huskycrew.org.

Link to the 2012 IRA Regatta Information Page - 2012 IRA Men's Rowing National Championship Regatta

The IRA Regatta was established in 1895.  Washington first participated in 1913, and won their first IRA Varsity 8 title in 1923.  The IRA is governed by members that include California, Columbia, Cornell, Navy, Pennsylvania and Syracuse (Board of Stewards - ECAC.org).  The races are organized by these members in cooperation with the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

The IRA Regatta is the current de facto National Championship for Division 1 Collegiate Men's Varsity Rowing.  That has not always been the case.  From 1973 - 1994, Washington did not go to the IRA due to scheduling conflicts and other factors.  Harvard and Yale, up until 2003, skipped the IRA to focus on the traditional Harvard/Yale race.  California and Stanford went only a handful of times in those years due to travel costs and other factors.  In 1982, the Cincinnati Regatta aimed to bring together all of the top crews (Eastern Sprints champ, Pac-10 champ, IRA champ etc.) and have one final race.  This regatta was the first real attempt at putting to rest the questions of which crew annually was the fastest, and lasted through 1996, ending as California and Washington both began to find ways to row again at the IRA.  Harvard and Yale began attending in 2003 (finding a way around the traditional Harvard/Yale race, which had previously conflicted with the IRA schedule) and since then, the IRA has featured all of the top ranked collegiate crews in the nation.

The "Ten Eyck" Trophy is awarded to the team with the highest cumulative finishes across the Frosh 8+, the 2V8+, and the V8+.  The team with the highest points at the end of competition is the Div. 1 Collegiate Rowing Team National Champion.

The IRA Regatta has been held on the Cooper River at Cherry Hill, NJ, since 1995, except for 2009, when it was raced at Sacramento, CA.  2009 was the first year, in the 100+ year history of the IRA, that the regatta was raced anywhere but in the east (previous locations included Poughkeepsie, NY and Syracuse, NY).  It is currently scheduled to return to Sacramento for the 2012-2013 season.  The 2010, 2011, and 2012 regattas have been or will be raced at the Cooper River course in Camden, New Jersey.

The 2011 IRA Regatta

Who:  The following 18 teams have been invited by the IRA Stewards to participate in the 2011 regatta based on regular season performances:  Boston U, Brown, Cal-Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Harvard, Navy, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse, UC-San Diego, Washington, Wisconsin, and Yale

What:  Five events make up the regatta:  1) Open 4+ (must have at least one frosh rower in the line-up);  Varsity 4+ and this event includes an open invitation to other colleges not making the field of 18 teams.  Additional schools opting to participate include:  Holy Cross, Drexel, George Washington, Hobart, Marist, MIT, and Temple;  Freshmen 8 (open to only rowers in their first year of collegiate competition);  2V8 (open to varsity rowers only, no frosh); V8 (open to varsity rowers only, no frosh).  Incidentally, the "no frosh" in varsity boats is a throw back to earlier generations when frosh were not allowed onto varsity squads in many sports.  This changed in 1973 for most NCAA governed sports, but rowing maintained the tradition due to the specific Frosh 8 competition.

Where:  Cooper River, Cherry Hill, NJ  Map: Cherry Hill NJ - driving directions, routes, and traffic

The last 1,000m of the Cooper River rowing course, and Cooper River Park, is shown in the aerial photo above.  The Grandstand/Finish area is fenced in and requires admission (admission is free Thursday and Friday; $10 (program included) Saturday).  Tents are located along the shore on the north side of the river, and this area, and many other viewing areas, are free all days.  Parking, unless arriving very early, can be a problem;  we recommend carpool or transit. 

When:  6/2 - 6/4, 2011.  Heats and Reps Thursday;  Semi-finals Friday;  Finals Saturday

    5/24:  Preliminary Schedule:  Preliminary Schedule pdf (schedule only, no seedings)

    5/30:  Heats and seedings should be available after 1:00 pm edt Tuesday, 5/31

    5/31:  Heats and seedings:  2011_IRA: Thursday_Heat_Sheet.pdf  Note: Qualification into Friday's semis varies by event.  In the V8, the top 2 in each heat go straight to Friday semi-finals, the rest go to Thurs. pm reps. (Note in the Open 4+, crews that win their heat go straight to Saturday's Grand Final).  West coast residents take notice: you will need to be up by 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning to catch the V8 heats.

    6/2:  Expect the semi-final schedule late afternoon after reps are completed.

    6/2:  6 pm PDT: Friday's Semi-Final Schedule:  2011IRAFridayHeatandLaneSched.pdf

    6/3:  Saturday Schedule:  6-4-2011 IRA Lane Schedulev2.pdf
   

Follow The Racing

Webcast:  Thank you Greg Hughes for setting this in motion and the participating alums from a number of schools, including the UW Rowing Stewards, for sponsoring this effort.  The webcast will be live streamed here - Princeton Crew Live Video Feed | Princeton Crew.  All three days will be webcast. 

Audio:  You can listen live to the regatta here - ECAC - Stretch Internet IRA Rowing

Live Results/Times: 2011 IRA Live Results

Twitter: UWHuskyCrew is covering the IRA regatta with consistently updated tweets from the course: UW Husky Crew Twitter

Race Summaries/Discussion: 2011 Race Results

Weather:  Historically the weather is either hot (90/90 pm heat/humidity or greater), or cooler with a strong tailwind (see 2010 results when course records were broken in a number of events).  Some years, due to thunderstorms, the V8 Grand Final is held first thing in the morning (in 2003, the V8 Grand Final was rowed at 7:36 a.m. edt, 4:36 a.m. pdt).  Summary:  be prepared for anything.  Forecast is here: 7-Day Forecast for Cherry Hill, NJ   Thursday Wind Update: Weatherbug seems to be doing the most accurate job of real-time wind speed: (The Bishop Eustace Prep School Weatherbug location is located near the football field in the photo above) Bishop Eustace, Camden, NJ Weather Conditions & Forecast - WeatherBug.com

Washington Tent:  All information on the Washington tent and food can be found here - if you are planning to be there, please help out! - Husky Crew Parents

Shell Trailer Heads East:  Ever want to know what it is like to drive 2,848 miles across country towing rowing shells?  Do not miss this streaming video of the guys driving to New Jersey - eastboundhusky on USTREAM

Just as a point of reference, here are some of the distances teams will need to travel in 2010, 2011, and 2012 to get to the Men's Rowing National Championships at Cherry Hill, NJ:

Team Points

From 1952 through 1973, the Jim "Ten" Eyck trophy (named for the famous Syracuse coach from 1903-1938) went to the team accumulating the largest number of points in the varsity, junior varsity and freshman eights.  In 1974, all races (and there were significantly more at that time - V4+, V4-, O4+, F4+, 2-, etc.) were counted in the scoring under a relatively complicated system adopted by the coaches of the EARC.  This was recently changed, and in 2010 reverted back to a system very similar to the original calculation.

Team Ten Eyck Trophy: Team points are calculated as follows:

Huskycrew will track the team points live on Saturday, June 4th, beginning with the Frosh 8 Finals.

History/Results

Here are some good places to start for more information on the history/results of the IRA Regatta:

Washington Rowing History:  Covers the IRA annually from 1922 -1973 (Washington did not go to the IRA from 73-92), then 1993 onward: University of Washington Rowing 100+ Year History

Washington Race Results:  Covers the IRA, including audio of race calls and video depending on the year:  Washington Rowing Alumni/Friends Website (go to Race Results tab)

Top Three Finishers Per Event (full historical record, times):  Rowing History.net:  IRA Regatta

Photos, Historical Record, 1895- 1949 - Intercollegiate Rowing Association - Poughkeepsie Regatta

Men's National Championship Stats, including historical Team Point Champions: Intercollegiate Sports Team Champions - Wikipedia