No. 9 Men's Crew Heads to California for 123rd IRA National Championship Regatta

No. 9 Men's Crew Heads to California for 123rd IRA National Championship Regatta

5/28/2026 10:04:00 AM | Men's Crew

**PROVIDENCE, R.I. - **After another strong regular season which saw the Bears earn a top ten ranking nationally throughout the entirety of their spring slate, the No. 9 men's crew team will travel to Gold River, Calif. for the 2026 IRA National Championship Regatta this weekend.

The Bears head to Lake Natoma after qualifying for a spot at nationals with their performance at the 79th annual Eastern Sprints on May 17. The Varsity Eight qualified for the Grand Final, finishing in sixth place. The entire squad finished with 27 points, tied for second with the Northeastern Huskies in the Rowe Cup standings. Other programs to qualify for nationals at the Eastern Sprints include Harvard, Princeton, Northeastern, Dartmouth, Penn, and Yale.

Last year's IRA National Championship Regatta saw all four of Brown's competing boats qualify for their respective Grand Finals. The Varsity Eight finished in fifth place, earning their second top five finish in an IRA Grand Final this decade (won bronze in 2022). The Second Varsity had the best result of the weekend for Bruno, finishing in fourth place, its best finish in 11 years. The Third Varsity and Varsity Four both finished in sixth place, respectively.

Brown has put together an impressive regular season resume that includes Ivy League victories against No. 15 Columbia and No. 7 Dartmouth. At the Princeton Invite on April 11, the Bears earned several podium finishes for the V8, 2V8, and 4V8. A few weeks before that at the Sarasota 2K, the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity performed well in races against other national contenders in Washington and Harvard.

As a program, Brown has won seven national championships, with their first coming in 1979. The best stretch of competition for the Bears at the IRA National Championship Regatta came between 1993-1995, when Brown completed a three-peat on the national stage.

WHERE TO WATCH

All three days of racing will be aired live on Overnght.com.

**RACE TIMES AND HEATS (Friday, May 29)

V8 - Heat 1 (8:16 a.m.)**

Lane 1: Washington

Lane 2: Penn

Lane 3: Brown

Lane 4: Drexel

Lane 5: Temple

Lane 6: Oregon State

2V8 - Heat 2 (9:12 a.m.)

Lane 1: Princeton

Lane 2: Brown

Lane 3: Cornell

Lane 4: Wisconsin

Lane 5: Temple

Lane 6: UC San Diego

3V8 - Heat 4 (10 a.m.)

Lane 1: Harvard

Lane 2: Brown

Lane 3: Yale

Lane 4: Columbia

Lane 5: La Salle

Lane 6: Oregon State

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