PRINCETON, N.J. - The Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association recently announced its class of 2025 Empacher-IRCA All-Americans and the Navy lightweight rowing program was well represented with three honorees. The Mids' captain during the 2025 season, Jonathan Sauer (Princeton Junction, N.J.) highlighted the announcement as he was selected as an IRCA First Team All-American for the second consecutive year. Additionally, fellow May graduates Mason Banks (Westport, Conn.) and Brooks Kirchen (Dallas, Texas) were named to the IRCA All-America Second Team. The organization also announced the list of 2025 Empacher-IRCA Scholar-Athletes and 13 Mids were recognized for their success on and off the water.

Sauer, Banks and Kirchen were all pivotal members of Navy's first varsity eight crew this past spring. Competing in all seven regular season contests and later at the Eastern Sprints and IRA National Championship, the trio helped the V8 to victories over Columbia for the WIT Cup on March 30 and Georgetown for the Forster Cup on April 12. At the IRA National Championship in Camden, N.J. on May 30 - June 1, the Mids' V8 knocked off the Hoyas once again, this time in a qualifying heat by a 5:44.950 to 5:47.110 decision for the final advancement position into the classification's grand final. In Sunday's championship finale, Navy vied for the national title versus Harvard, Dartmouth, MIT, Penn and Princeton. The Mids were in medal contention for most of the race as they were within 2.605 seconds of third place MIT at the 1,500-meter mark. Aggressive in their the approach down the stretch, the Mids' effort was matched by the other five crews and they crossed the finish line in sixth place with a time of 5:41.030. For that championship grand final, Banks rowed in the fourth seat, while Kirchen was in the fifth and Sauer in the sixth.

Sauer concludes his collegiate rowing career with a pair of IRCA First Team All-American nods and action in the first or second varsity eight in all 33 contests over the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons. Overcoming a brief injury at the start of the 2024 season, Banks had a similar career arc with 30 appearances, all with the first varsity eight. Accomplished away from the waters of America, Banks teamed with fellow lightweight Midshipman Jackson Fuller ('23) and captured gold at the 2023 Under-23 World Rowing Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Another staple of the Navy lightweight V8 lineup from 2022 through 2025, Kirchen rowed with the top boat in all 33 races and finished his career with silver medals from the 2022 Eastern Sprints and IRA National Championship, as well as a bronze from the 2023 Eastern Sprints.

In the academic portion of the IRCA's announcements, the Navy lightweights had 13 members of its team listed as Empacher-IRCA Scholar-Athletes. Recent USNA graduates Andy Fichtel (Wellesley, Mass. - Computer Science), Owen O'Malley (Pittsburgh, Pa. - Honors Robotics & Control Engineering), Leo Wagner (St. Louis, Mo. - Honors Robotics & Control Engineering) and Sauer (Mechanical Engineering) all earned the honor for the third straight year, while fellow members of the Class of 2025 Charles Francesconi (Burlingame, Calif. - Computer Science) and Alex Vester (Ridgewood, N.J. - Operations Research) were noted for the second time in their respective careers and Nathan Faust (East Lansing - Robotics & Control Engineering) for the first time. Rising senior Frank Keusenkothen (Reston, Va. - Operation Research) joins the list of two-time honorees. The quintet of rising seniors Christopher Binney (Atlanta, Ga. - Political Science) and Thomas Kelly (Windermere, Fla. - Aerospace Engineering), and rising juniors Max Gomez (Cohasset, Mass. - Mechanical Engineering), George Liu (Downingtown, Pa. - Honors Operations Research) and Sam Rembold (Beaufort, S.C. - Aerospace Engineering) all garnered this prestigious accolade for the first time for their success on the water and in the classroom.

For the 2025 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 June and have a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher through the end of the fall semester.  In total, there were 690 rowers and coxswains from 61 different teams who met the criteria set by the IRCA Awards & Polling Committee.