The Boston University men’s rowing team finished 12th overall at the 2026 IRA National Championship Regatta on May 31 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.
All three of Boston University’s eights either matched or exceeded their seeding from national rankings and improved two spots from last year. The Varsity 8 and Third Varsity 8 competed in the Petite Finals, with the Third Varsity placing third to finish ninth overall. This marks another top-10 finish for the Third Varsity, which has achieved this result in all but one IRA event since 2014. The Varsity 8 placed 12th overall, while the Second Varsity won its C final to secure a national ranking of 13th.
Rowers were met with calm water, clear skies, and mild temperatures during Sunday morning’s races. In the Second Varsity C Final, coxed by Luke Stroh and stroked by Griffith Coupland, Boston University overtook Drexel after an early lead by their competitor and maintained an advantage to win in a time of 5:51.180—2.77 seconds ahead of Drexel.
The Third Varsity boat, coxed by Ben Brinckerhoff and stroked by Liam Feeney, trailed early but accelerated midway through the race to surpass Syracuse, Stanford, and Northeastern before narrowly missing second place behind Penn for a third-place finish at 5:54.900. This performance exceeded their national ranking by two positions.
In the final race for Boston University on Sunday, the Varsity Eight crew—coxed by Emily Slawin and stroked by Alessandro Gardino—competed out of Lane Six in a strong field including Yale, Syracuse, and Brown before finishing sixth in its heat with a time of 5:50.818 for an overall standing of twelfth nationally.
