All three eight-man boats from the Harvard men’s heavyweight rowing team advanced to the finals at the IRA National Championship Regatta in Gold River, California, according to a May 30 update. The varsity eight secured the team’s first medal of the weekend by earning bronze in their final race.
Stroke Ben Scott led the varsity eight to a second-place finish behind California in their semifinal, clocking a time of 5:41.770 and finishing just one seat behind Cal. This result earned them a spot in Sunday’s A Final scheduled for 3:04 p.m. Eastern Time.
The second varsity boat’s semifinal was interrupted after about 800 meters due to interference, leading officials to restart the race after completion of other semifinals. In the restarted event, Harvard finished second with a time of 5:43.170, pulling away from Syracuse late and nearly catching Princeton at the line. The A Final for this crew is set for Sunday at 2:08 p.m.
In third varsity action, Harvard trailed through most checkpoints but overtook Washington inside the red buoys near the finish line with a winning margin of just 0.27 seconds and a time of 5:45.910. This boat will compete in its A Final on Sunday at 12:46 p.m.
The varsity four crew, stroked by Adam Cech, raced in a competitive final where California took gold and Penn silver; Harvard moved up from fifth after 500 meters to claim bronze with a time of 6:31.180 by passing both Princeton and Washington late in the race.
