GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Washington men's rowing saw all four boats move on to the grand finals at the 2017 Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships.
Saturday on Lake Natoma, the Huskies' first, second, and third varsity eights, and the varsity four, all advanced to the grand finals by virtue of winning their semifinal races.
"It is the goal to advance all boats to the Grand Finals," said head coach
Michael Callahan. "We train all year long for this race. It is the final exam of the rowing season."
The Huskies remain the only unbeaten team heading into the grand finals tomorrow at the IRA Championships, as each boat won their respective heats and semifinal races.
"It is awesome to see all of the support from our fans," added Callahan. "Being on the West Coast, it is almost like a home regatta for us. This is an outstanding venue to row at, and we really feel and feed off the energy of the crowd."
Only Washington, California, and Princeton have boats in all four heavyweight grand finals tomorrow. Those three teams, plus Harvard and Yale are in all three heavyweight eights grand finals.
Here is a breakdown of today's semifinal races (tomorrow's grand final schedule can be found at the bottom of the recap):
VARSITY 8+ (SEMIFINAL ONE)
With the top three boats advancing to the grand finals tomorrow, Yale, Washington, and Princeton got off to the early lead in the first 200 meters. But by 500 meters Yale pushed out in front of the Huskies by five seats. Washington's varsity eight, with
Ezra Carlson in the three seat, began to gain seats back on Yale heading into the halfway point. With 750 meters to go the Huskies took an aggressive move and stole the lead from Yale. The two crews stayed neck and neck until the finish where Washington (5:34.945) was able to edge out Yale (5:35.494) by just over a half second.
Washington's varsity eight advanced to the grand final tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. PT and will face off against Yale, Harvard, California, Brown, and Princeton.
SECOND VARSITY 8+ (SEMIFINAL ONE)
Washington's second varsity eight, stroked by
Viktor Pivac, progressed off the start line and quickly gained the lead over Harvard and the rest of the crews in first 250 meters. By the 500-meter mark, the Huskies had almost a boat-length lead over Harvard, with Boston University sitting in third. The UW gained open water by 1,000 meters and saw their largest lead grow to eight feet of open water at the 1,500-meter mark. Their time of 5:42.317 was enough to beat second-place Harvard (5:45.628) by a boat length.
Washington's second varsity eight advanced to the grand final tomorrow at 11:20 a.m. PT and will face off against California, Yale, Harvard, Boston University, and Princeton.
THIRD VARSITY 8+ (SEMIFINAL ONE)
In what turned out to be a race between the two rival schools, Washington ultimately edged out California in a tight, full 2,000-meter race. Cal and the UW had the early lead, but the Golden Bears were able to edge the slight lead over the Huskies after 300 meters. Washington was down by a half-length as they crossed the 500-meter mark but shortened that lead to a third of a length by the halfway point. Husky coxswain Bradean Daste called for a move in the last 500 meters to propel Washington ahead of Cal. They crossed the finish line four seats ahead of Cal with a time of 5:45.849 to 5:47.591. Princeton (5:50.135) rounded out the top three.
Washington's third varsity eight advanced to the grand final tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. PT and will face off against California, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Navy.
VARSITY 4+ (SEMIFINAL ONE)
The men's varsity four has been nothing short of dominant at the 2017 IRAs. After Friday's open-water win, the V4+ followed it up with another impressive open-water finish in the semifinals. After a quick start off the starting line, the Huskies, coxed by
Lia Roberds, never looked back. By 1,000 meters they had multiple boats of open water over second place Boston University. The UW V4+ crossed the finish line in 6:18.168, well ahead of second place BU (6:24.484) and third place Brown (6:24.874).
Washington's varsity four advanced to the grand final tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. PT and will face off against California, Princeton, Boston University, Marietta, and Brown.
GRAND FINAL SCHEDULE (UW races only):
9:30 a.m. PT – Varsity Four Grand Final
11:00 a.m. PT – Third Varsity Eight Grand Final
11:20 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight Grand Final
12:30 p.m. PT – Varsity Eight Grand Final
SUNDAY LIVE VIDEO
Live video for all of Sunday's races can be found
HERE
