GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Navy lightweight rowing team opened action at the 2026 IRA National Championship on Friday with three crews taking to the waters of Lake Natoma in northern California. At the completion of four individual 2,000-meter pieces, one time trial and three semifinal races on Friday, the Mids saw their second varsity eight crew advance to its respective grand final.
The second varsity eight led off the day of racing as one of five teams in heat number one. Fighting for one of the three prized qualifying spots for Sunday's grand final, Navy had to battle it out with Penn, Georgetown, MIT and Yale. After a quality opening sprint, the Mids were in the thick of it at the quarter pole as they were in a dead heat for third place with the Engineers with matching 1:29.740 times. Penn and Georgetown started pulling away from Navy over the next 500 meters as the Mids were five-plus seconds back of the Quakers and three-plus behind the Hoyas at the halfway point.
Recognizing that third place was theirs for the taking the Mids did their best to go stroke-for-stroke and move-for-move with the Engineers in the second 1,000 meters as they added 0.74 seconds to their lead in the third quarter of the race before holding on for the eventual 1.33-second margin, 6:04.360 to 6:05.690 for the final qualifying position.
Penn (5:53.650) and Georgetown (6:01.370) went one-two to secure the first two spots in Sunday's grand final, while Yale rounded out the field with a 6:09.670 time. Navy's 2V8+ will race for the national title on Sunday at 1:12 p.m. ET.
The first varsity eight crew was next up to compete on Friday as it had to race shoulder-to-shoulder versus Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT and Yale for one of the coveted top-three positions. A tough opening sprint left the Mids trailing the field by 2.27 seconds at the quarter mark. Navy tried mightily to pick up speed over the next 1,000 meters, but were unable to cut into MIT's control of third place or Yale's fourth place positioning. With nothing left to lose in the final 500 meters, the Mids laid down a scorching 1:26.410 split that was over four seconds faster than any other crew in the field, but unfortunately it was a little too late as Navy crossed the finish line in fifth place, 0.19 seconds behind fourth-place Yale and 5.76 seconds behind MIT, who grabbed the final advancement spot.
Overall, the final leaderboard saw Princeton (5:48.230), Dartmouth (5:50.010) and MIT (5:50.500) qualify for Sunday's grand final, while Yale (5:56.070) and Navy (5:56.260) will do battle again in the classification's petite final that is set for 2:26 p.m. ET.
The final crew in action on Friday was Navy's varsity four. Racing twice on Lake Natoma, the Mids' V4+ initially turned in a time of 6:28.356 in the morning's time trial competition. That effort ranked fifth of 10 boats, 3.694 seconds shy of Penn's top qualifying time of 6:24.662.
Navy saw that Penn team again its semifinal, as well as Harvard, Columbia and Yale. Similar to the time trial, Penn was the class of the field leading wire-to-wire on its way to a 3.29-second victory, 6:29.540 to 6:32.830 over Harvard.
While the Quakers and Crimson captured the top-two qualifying spots in Saturday's grand final, the race for the third spot was hotly-contested between the Mids and Lions. Navy out-paced Columbia at each of the first three checkpoints, though only by tenths of a second at the first two as it was 0.11 seconds faster at the 500-meter mark and 0.27 seconds at the 1,000-meter mark. A strong third quarter of the race helped the Mids break out to a 1.45-second advantage through 1,500 meters, though the edge was short-lived as the Lions came roaring back with the fastest final closing sprint of the field with a time of 1:35.780 that aided them in securing the final advancement position, 6:35.650 to 6:36.750 over Navy.
Yale was off the pace in fifth place at 6:43.270. Navy's V4+ will be back in action on Saturday in the petite final that is scheduled for a 1:56 p.m. ET start.
Race Results
First Varsity Eight
Fifth of Five in Heat 2
Princeton – 5:48.230
Dartmouth – 5:50.010
MIT – 5:50.500
Yale – 5:56.070
Navy – 5:56.260
   Next Up: Petite Final – Sunday, 2:26 p.m.
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Second Varsity Eight
Third of Five in Heat 1
Penn – 5:53.650
Georgetown – 6:01.370
Navy – 6:04.360
MIT – 6:05.690
Yale – 6:09.670
   Next Up: Grand Final – Sunday, 1:12 p.m.
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Varsity Four
Fifth of 10 in Time Trial -- 6:28.356
Fourth of five in AB Semifinal 1
Penn – 6:29.540
Harvard – 6:32.830
Columbia – 6:35.650
Navy – 6:36.750
Yale – 6:43.270
   Next Up: Petite Finals – Saturday, 1:56 p.m.
Boat Lineups
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