ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy heavyweight and lightweight rowing programs will get the chance to leave it all out on the water with action at the season-ending IRA National Championship this weekend in Northern California. After racing in head competitions during the fall and battling against Eastern Sprints League rivals throughout the majority of the spring season, the Mids will get one final chance to lay down their best efforts and times of the year on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California this Friday through Sunday. Between the two programs, Navy will have six crews in action at the national regatta with the lightweight second varsity eight kicking off the multi-day competition with a semifinal heat at 11:00 a.m. ET (8 a.m.-local PT) on Friday morning.

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) will be providing live video via the Overnght streaming service and free results of both the heavyweight and lightweight regattas. Overnght is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest.

The competition for Navy's lightweights begins at 11:00 a.m. ET/(8 AM-local PT) on Friday in heat number one of the second varsity eight classification. Navy will initially race versus Georgetown, MIT, Penn and Yale. 56 minutes later, the lightweight first varsity eight will hit the water at 11:56 a.m. in heat two alongside Dartmouth, MIT, Princeton and Yale. The top three finishing boats in each of the V8 and 2V8 races will advance to Sunday's grand finals, while the remaining crews will battle it out in the petite finals on Sunday. The varsity four crew will be in action twice on Friday, first in a time trial at 2:45 p.m. and later in a semifinal at 7:40 p.m.; 10 teams are entered in the field of the V4 event.

The Mids' heavyweight team has entered its first, second and third varsity eight crews in the national championship. Navy's heat schedule on Friday consists of the V8 kicking off all of the racing at 11:40 a.m. ET/(8:40 a.m.-local PT) versus Cornell, La Salle, Princeton, Stanford and Syracuse. The top three crews will move onto AB semifinals on Saturday, while the lower three squads will partake in CD semifinal action. There are 24 teams from across the nation suiting up in the first varsity eight field. Next up at 12:20 p.m., Navy's 2V8 will race as six across in heat three versus Harvard, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Oregon State and Penn. The Mids' final entrant in Gold River will be their 3V8. One of 21 crews in the field, Navy will first see action against Cal, Holy Cross, Northeastern and Penn in heat number one at 12:36 p.m. The same advancement rules will apply to the 2V8 and 3V8 competitions with the top three crews moving onto the AB semifinals with the remaining clubs racing in the CD semis.

Scouting the Opposition
The heavyweight varsity eight field at the 2026 IRA National Championship is 24 teams deep with 15 opponents from the Eastern Sprints competition (May 17) with the addition of California, Drexel, La Salle, MIT, Oregon State, Stanford, Temple, UC San Diego, Washington from the MPSF, National Invitational Rowing and Jefferson Dad Vail Championship Regattas.

In the lightweight competition, 10 first varsity eight programs will be racing on Lake Natoma as the field is as follows: Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Navy, Penn, Princeton and Yale.

Navy at the 2025 IRA National Championship
Lightweight Crew Finishes Campaign Sixth in the Nation
The Navy lightweight rowing team concluded its racing at the 2025 IRA National Championship on Sunday with its top two crews taking one final trip down the Cooper River. The Mids' first varsity eight boat highlighted the action on Sunday as it challenged the nation's best in the classification's grand final.

With the opportunity to race for the national title, Navy's first varsity eight was locked in and ready to go on Sunday. One of six crews vying for the title, the Mids raced against the Harvard Crimson, Dartmouth Big Green, MIT Engineers, Penn Quakers and Princeton Tigers in the grand final. The six teams all broke out at the start nearly in-sync as first-place Harvard was only 1.578 seconds ahead of sixth-place Navy at the quarter mark. The Crimson continued to pace the field for the next 500 meters with the Big Green and Quakers close behind. The Mids were only 2.77 seconds back of the Quakers and in strong contact with the Tigers and Engineers at the half-way point. 

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. Harvard won the V8 gold medal at 5:29.620, while Dartmouth and MIT rounded out the medal stand with times of 5:32.250 and 5:34.390, respectively. Penn (5:34.910) and Princeton (5:36.750) placed fourth and fifth for their efforts.

Taking part in a competitive grand final race on Saturday, the Mids' V4+ came in fifth place after 2,000 meters of action. Navy got off to a strong start in its respective grand final which all six crews were within 1.276 seconds of each other at the 500-meter mark. The front-running Penn Quakers continued to lead over the next quarter sector as the field began to separate a bit with first through six now separated by 2.89 seconds as the Mids crossed the half-way point in sixth, but well within striking distance. Moving past the Columbia Lions during the third quarter of the race, the Mids fought hard down the stretch and secured a fifth-place result over their Eastern Sprints League rival, 6:33.330 to 6:35.450. An active stretch run at the top the leaderboard saw Georgetown (6:23.900) and Mercyhurst (6:24.410) race by Penn (6:26.420) to finalize the medal podium on Saturday. Harvard was edged out the bronze medal by 0.34 seconds with a respective time of 6:26.760.

At the conclusion of the racing, Navy finished sixth in the team points trophy standings with 28.5 points. Harvard claimed the national team title as it bested Dartmouth by nine points in the standings, 54 to 45.

Heavyweights Conclude Action at IRA National Championship
The Navy heavyweight rowing program wrapped up racing at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Sunday with its top three varsity eight crews in action on the Cooper River. The Mids' first varsity eight highlighted the day as they showcased their top speed in the petite final, while their second and third varsity eight crews raced in third-level finals.

Racing for the opportunity to finish as high as seventh in the nation, Navy's first varsity eight crew knew that they faced a stiff challenge with teams like No. 1 seed California, No. 5 Yale, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Penn and No. 10 Northeastern in the six-team field. Competitive during the early segments of the contest, the Mids were sixth after the opening sprint and crossed the 500-meter marker at 1:20.714 and 1,000-meter marker at 2:45.350.

At that mid-way point, Navy was holding onto contact with third-place Stanford, fourth-place Yale and fifth-place Penn as those four crews were within 4.26 seconds of each other. As the action moved through the final 1,000 meters of the Cooper River course, Navy slowly lost seats and contact with the previously mentioned squads and crossed the finish line with an extremely competitive time of 5:34.340, its fastest of the three-day regatta. Navy's sixth-place result ranked them 12th in the nation at the championship.

At the conclusion of the racing, Navy finished 15th in the team points trophy standings with 127 points, just four points shy of 14th-place Boston University (131) and eight off of Wisconsin's 135. Washington claimed the national team title as it bested Harvard by six points, 285 to 279. California grabbed the final spot on the medal stand with 244 points.

Race Schedule
Friday  (All times set to ET)
11:00 AM – LWT Second Varsity Eight (Semifinals, Heat #1): Georgetown, MIT, Penn, Yale; top-3 to Grand Final, remainder to Petite Final
11:40 AM – HWT First Varsity Eight (Heat #4): Cornell, La Salle, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse; top-3 to AB semis, remainder to CD semis
11:56 AM – LWT First Varsity Eight (Semifinals, Heat #2): Dartmouth, MIT, Princeton, Yale; top-3 to Grand Final, remainder to Petite Final
12:20 PM – HWT Second Varsity Eight (Heat #3): Harvard, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Oregon State, Penn; top-3 to AB semis, remainder to CD semis
12:36 PM – HWT Third Varsity Eight (Heat #1): Cal, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Penn; top-3 to AB semis, remainder to CD semis
12:45 PM - LWT Varsity Four, Time Trials ... all boats to AB semis
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7:40/7:48 PM – LWT Varsity Four (Semifinals AB) ... top-6 to Grand Final, remainder to Petite Final

Saturday
11:48/11:56 AM or 12:36/12:44 PM – HWT First Varsity Semifinals (AB or CD)
12:04/12:12 PM or 12:52/1:00 PM – HWT Second Varsity Semifinals (AB or CD)
12:20/12:28 PM or 1:08/1:16 PM – HWT Third Varsity Semifinals (AB or CD)
1:56/2:12 PM – LWT First Varsity Four (Petite-Grand Finals)

Sunday
11:50 AM/12:14 PM/12:38 PM/12:46 PM – HWT Third Varsity Eight Finals (D-C-Petite-Grand Finals)
11:58 AM/12:22 / 2:00 / 2:08 PM – HWT Second Varsity Eight Finals (D-C-Petite-Grand Finals)
12:06 PM/12:30 / 2:56 / 3:04 PM – HWT First Varsity Eight Finals (D-C-Petite-Grand Finals)
1:04 PM/10:12 PM – LWT Second Varsity Eight (Petite-Grand Finals)
2:26 PM/2:34 PM – LWT First Varsity Eight (Petite-Grand Finals)