The Championship Begins
The latest in the US Collegiate Rowing
L. D. Banks
THE TIME HAS COME. Last Friday marked the beginning of the 2023 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships. The IRA’s are the first (and last) regatta where all the College level crews from across the US come together to race.
At such a pivotal moment in the season, this adds an extra level of suspense, as many of the highest-performing crews are yet to meet. This predicament most fittingly describes the crews of UC Berkley (Cal) and Washington University as they are both two strong programs that do not have a chance to row many of the Ivy crews in the lead-up to the Pac-12 Championship (Pac-12: an athletic association similar to the Ivy League, hence contact between the two collectives is limited prior to the IRA’s).
The title-defending California crew have certainly had the form all season, being ranked by the IRCA (Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association) at number one for all seven votes of this season. Although, there have been some impressive results in the lead-up, such as the Yale Crew winning the Eastern Sprints (Ivy Championship + some extra crews) in a blistering time of 5:23.619, which is only 5 seconds off the world record for the men’s coxed eight (8+).
The Championship features a ‘seeding’ system, distributing crews based on the speed they have demonstrated in the lead up, allowing for a more fair progression from heat to semi to final. Seeding allows the faster crews a bit of a safety net, preventing them from being placed in the same heat and knocking each other out early on, whilst a slow crew progresses through an easier heat. However, this also adds suspense to the regatta, as ideally the fastest two crews will not meet until the final. This year, these two crews would be the Cal crew who have exhibited extreme dominance all season, going completely undefeated. Notably, Cal defeated the 2022 Henley-Winning Oxford Brookes crew from England who visited San Diego in April. Oxford Brookes, like California, is regarded as one of the fastest Collegiate level crews in the world and was expected to beat Cal. The second crew would be the impressive Yale crew, coached by the illustrious and unfortunately retiring Steve Gladstone. Steve has won more IRA’s than any other coach and the strength of the Yale program in the last decade has certainly been due to his guidance. Yale has also gone undefeated in the lead up to the championship, winning the Eastern Sprints and hence claiming the Ivy League title. This Yale crew also happens to be coxed by Shore old boy Harry Keenan.
At the time of the release of this article, the regatta will have concluded, but at the time of writing it, the semi-finals have taken place and the finals are in 8 hours. The heats progressed somewhat unsurprisingly. The first and second fastest finish of each heat progresses straight through to the A/B semi-finals, whilst the remainder of the crews are sent to one of four repechages, where the winner of each also progresses to the A/B semis. The winners of the four heats were Cal, Yale, Princeton and Washington respectively, with Brown, Northeastern, Harvard and Syracuse recording second places. The progression from the repechages was Dartmouth, Stanford, Cornell and Pennsylvania. In my opinion, these results were expected, with Cal recording the fastest qualifying time by over a second and rowing through the line looking very relaxed, they were certainly very impressive.
In the Varsity 4+ (also known as the ‘four-with’; short for four with coxswain), a less contested category, Cal demonstrated once again their dominance. The road to the final in the four is slightly different to the eights, as they complete time trials rather than heats. After having their semi-finals cancelled and lane draw shifted due to the wind conditions, this further confused the crews. Shortly after the start, it was dead level. Cal made their typical second 500m push working their way out to nearly a length of clear water at some points. Coming through the 500m Cal was looking strong, but as the crews approached the line, it appeared the Cal crew had burnt all their matches as the wheels were falling off quickly, and other crews were making up ground. However, their early lead posed too much of an advantage as the other crews ran out of water and Cal made their way over the line to claim the National Title in the Varsity 4+.
The semis posed an interesting contrast to the heats, with a strong headwind charging down Lake Mercer, the lane draws were altered to favour the inside lanes. The lane draw can be altered depending on the conditions, generally, the fastest qualifiers receive the favoured lane, which in still conditions is the central-most lane. This is because being in the centre grants the rowers and coxswain the advantage of seeing more of their opponents instead of being in an outside lane where it is difficult to catch a glimpse of crews four to five lanes away. However, depending on the intensity and direction of wind and also potentially tidal currents and general water movement depending on the location. On this particular day, the inside lanes gained an advantage from the large trees that coat the right (from the perspective of a rower) side of the course, providing some obstruction to the wind currents.
Although, a headwind affects the race due to more than the intuitive extra resistance. Rowing different conditions requires an adaptation to the ‘stroke’ a crew rows (or their specific style/technique). The best crews can adapt accordingly, but particularly at such a level, many crews focus on learning a stroke that is best suited for still or tailwind conditions. Such a stroke is very punchy and front end focused, an example of such a crew is the Yale crew, who row a very ‘front-loaded’ stroke at a slightly higher stroke rate. This technical difference is what I would attribute to Yale’s second place in the semi-final to Princeton, a team who has been slower than Yale this season. The Princeton crew exhibited much longer rowing, with a very powerful mid-drive and finish, overcoming the Yale crew’s leg-focused rowing. This was a surprising upset, as Princeton made a mad dash through the 2nd 500m working out to a length and ultimately clear water. This is a very impressive result and will have certainly given the Princeton crew a morale boost approaching the Grand Final.
In the second semi-final, Cal laid down the law. With strong starts from all crews, Cal rowed with their characteristic confidence, rowing cool, calm and hard, waiting to make their move through the 500m mark. Cal held off a fast Washington crew with ease, demonstrating their dominance whilst reserving energy for the big race. At such a late point in the season, it is safe to say that if Cal can row to their full potential in the Grand Final, they will take the title. However, rowing is a dynamic sport, and as shown by the Princeton crew in Semi-1, anything can happen in a race. The Yale crew will certainly be feeling aggressive coming off an ego-triggering defeat in the semi-final. The Princeton crew will be basking in their newfound fervour, after realising it is not so impossible to slay a giant. The Cal crew will be preparing just as they do, trying not to make any changes and just trust the process that has brought them so far before and can do so again. I will be back next week with an update on the result of the grand final.