June 2, 2011

Complete Results | IRA Championships Central

CAMDEN, N.J. - TThe Navy heavyweight rowing team opened the 2011 IRA National Championships on Thursday on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., in solid fashion as all of its crews earned a spot in their respective semifinal races. Navy's freshman eight and varsity four boats advanced to Friday's semifinals by both placing second in their respective heats on Thursday morning. The varsity and second varsity boats earned semifinal spots with second-place finishes in their afternoon repechage races.

"We're well ahead of where we were last year," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "After having just one boat in the semifinals last year, we feel good about what we did today. We believe we have our best rows yet to come."

Competing in the second heat, the freshman eight boat posted a time of 5:41.393 to place second behind Harvard, which clocked a 5:38.791. Navy's time was the fifth fastest among all 17 boats in the three heats.

Navy was one of 12 freshman eight crews to advance to tomorrow's semifinal races. Navy will compete against Cal, Princeton, Columbia, Brown and UCSD in the second of two semifinals at 11:30 a.m.

"The plebes were really the feature for us today," said Clothier.

The varsity four boat turned in a time of 6:22.446 to take second place in its heat, finishing behind Wisconsin, which clocked a 6:21.056. By placing in the top two, the Mids advanced to Friday's second semifinal at 10:15 a.m. and will compete against Holy Cross, Brown, Northeastern, George Washington and Stanford.

The varsity eight boat finished in third place in its morning heat as it turned in a time of 5:36.829, which was second to Cal and Wisconsin.

In the afternoon repechage race, Navy placed second with a time of 5:38.474, earning a spot in tomorrow's first semifinal at 12:15 p.m.

The second varsity boat placed fourth in its morning heat with a time of 6:03.573, but bounced back much faster in the afternoon by posting a 5:46.354 in the repechage to gain a place in Friday's semifinals. Navy will be one of 12 boats competing in two semifinal races, beginning at 11:45 a.m.

Navy's open four boat took third in its first race of the day, finishing behind Washington and Wisconsin, with a time of 6:33.910.