Huskies Open IRAs With Five Wins; Varsity 4+ Set To Race For Title

Friday, May 30

Cooper River, N.J.

5:00 AM PT

University of Washington

IRA National Championships

uw men's varsity eight day one heats IRA 2025

Photo by: Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures

Huskies Open IRAs With Five Wins; Varsity 4+ Set To Race For Title

May 30, 2025 | Men's Rowing

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PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Washington's No. 2-ranked men's rowing team began defense of its national title with five wins in five races Friday on Cooper River, on day one of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta.

The Huskies picked up wins in all three eights heats (first, second and third varsity eights) and also won both a time trial and an A/B/C semifinal in the varsity four.

On Saturday, the varsity four, which won the IRA gold medal last year, will race for the Huskies' 15th Eric W. Will Trophy (given to the varsity four winner), while the three eights will each row in A/B semifinals, needing top-three finishes to qualify for Sunday's grand finals.

In men's college rowing, the winner of the varsity eight grand final is considered the "national champion," but all four boats race for national titles in their respective heavyweight race categories.

On Friday, the Huskies' varsity eight opened the day with a win in its heat, leading throughout. The UW varsity crossed the finish line in 5:34.07, just over three seconds ahead of second-place Northeastern. Stanford was third.

In the UW's second varsity eights heat, Washington opened an early lead over the rest of the field and then held off a challenge from Brown to win in 5:41.950, about a second and a half in front of the Ivies (5:43.530).

The Huskies' third varsity eight earned a relatively comfortable win, leading throughout and beating second-place Syracuse by two and a half seconds.

Following the eights heats, the Husky four was one of 39 entries in a time-trial race. The Huskies finished that event with the fastest time (5:59.438), more than three seconds ahead of second-place California.

The top 18 finishers in the time trial were placed in one of three A/B/C semifinals, with the top two in each semi earning a spot in the grand final Saturday.

In the first of the three semifinals, Washington grabbed an early lead and captured an open-water lead over the other few crews, leaving Princeton, Jacksonville and Syracuse to fight for the other berth in the grand final.

Eventually, with the Huskies still in charge, Jacksonville fell off, and Syracuse held off Princeton to take second.

Washington won the race in 6:17.52, exactly three seconds ahead of the Orange, with the Tigers another eight-tenths of a second behind, in third.

Here is Washington's schedule for Saturday's eights semifinals, and the varsity four grand final (NOTE: due to incoming weather and river conditions, the entire Saturday schedule was pushed back four hours from the original):

9:40 a.m. PT – Varsity Eights A/B Semifinal #2
Lanes 1-6: Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, Washington, Pennsylvania, Navy

9:48 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eights A/B Semifinal #1
Lanes 1-6: Stanford, Dartmouth, Washington, Harvard, Yale, Northeastern

10:04 a.m. PT – Third Varsity Eights A/B Semifinal #1
Lanes 1-6: Boston University, Princeton, Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Brown

12:20 p.m. PT – Varsity Four Grand Final
Finalists: Washington, Syracuse, California, Brown, Harvard, Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON LINEUPS

Varsity Eight
Shell: ShoeDaWg
Cox: Nick Dunlop
Stroke: Ryan Martin
7: Klas Ole Lass
6: Giuseppe Bellomo
5: Povilas Juskevicius
4: Ben Shortt
3: Sam Ford
2: Logan Ullrich
Bow: Harry Fitzpatrick

Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Brett "Big Red" Reisinger
Cox: Kieran Joyce
Stroke: Ryan Smith
7: Jonathan Wang-Norderud
6: Quinn Hall
5: Blake Vogel
4: Ian Burnett
3: Lyle Donovan
2: Marius Bjørn-Hansen Ahlsand
Bow: Finn Griskauskas

Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Nikita Jacobs
Stroke: Rory McDonnell
7: Will Milne
6: Marc Tennesen
5: Alex Gonin
4: Ewan Morrow
3: Lucas Andersen
2: Cameron Tasker
Bow: Hector Guimet

Varsity Four
Shell: George Yeoman Pocock
Stroke: Tobias Bosnes
3: Ethan Walsh
2: Parker Raines
Bow: Marley King Smith
Cox: Maggie Gibbons