PRINCETON, N.J. – The Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) recently announced its 2023 postseason awards and the Navy heavyweight rowing program came away with one Empacher-IRCA All-American honor and ten Empacher-IRCA Scholar-Athlete laurels.

Senior team captain Billy Duffy (Fairfield, Conn.) earned accolades for his success on the water as he was named as a 2023 IRCA Honorable Mention All-American. A staple in Navy's first varsity eight lineup throughout the five-race regular season and into the postseason at the Eastern Sprints and IRA National Championship, Duffy rowed from the first or second seat in five contests and from the sixth position twice more. For his career, he suited up with the Mids' first varsity in all 20 races over the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.

This is the third time that men's rowing as a sport has acknowledged its top performing athletes through the All-American program. In order to be named an All-American, rowers and coxswains must have been nominated by their institution and raced in the team's first varsity boat during the spring. The nominees were then selected to the first, second or honorable mention teams based on the strength of the first varsity's finish at the IRA's, as well as coach comments, individual achievements and erg scores. In total, 100 rowers and coxswain were named as either IRCA First Team All-Americans, IRCA Second Team All-Americans or IRCA Honorable Mention All-Americans across the ranks of heavyweight and lightweight crew in 2023. As a program, Navy had six All-Americans across the heavyweight and lightweight divisions.
 
Ten members of the heavyweight team were additionally recognized as 2023 IRCA Scholar-Athletes. A quartet of multi-year honorees led the way with recent graduates Zack Shieh (Bowie, Md. - mechanical engineering) and Carey Hutchens (Newport News, Va. - computer science) and rising seniors Nick Bostock (Fishers, Ind. - aerospace engineering) and Ava Izenour (Poland, Ohio - political science) each adding to their collection of IRCA awards. Shieh finished his career at Navy with three honors, while Hutchens, Bostock and Izenour each garnered their second respective nods. First-time honorees on the IRCA Scholar-Athlete list include rising seniors Ethan Barton (McBain, Mich. - aerospace engineering) and Adrien Richez (Atlanta, Ga. - aerospace engineering) and rising juniors Duncan Ayles (Westwood, Mass. - robotics & control engineering), Alexander Grande (Lookout Mountain, Tenn. - data science), Josh Herbert (Darien, Conn. - political science) and George Wright (Chippewa Bay, N.Y. - astrophysics).
 
For the 2023 season, all honorees needed to have completed their second season of eligibility, competed in their program's top-three boats during the regular season or raced at the IRA Championships in May and have a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher through the end of the fall semester.  In total, there were 638 rowers and coxswains from 64 different teams who met the criteria set by the IRCA Awards & Polling Committee.