The Northeastern men’s rowing team will compete at the 123rd IRA Championship on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California, as announced on May 27. The Huskies have entered four boats into the national regatta: first, second, and third varsity eights, as well as a varsity four.
Heats for the first three varsity eights begin Friday morning. The top three finishers from each heat will advance to Saturday’s A/B Semifinal. The first varsity eight is scheduled to race at 8:32 a.m. Pacific Time in Lane 2 against Harvard, Boston University, Wisconsin, Holy Cross, and MIT. The second varsity eight will follow at 9:20 a.m., also in Lane 2, competing with Harvard, Penn, Navy, Holy Cross, and Oregon State. The third varsity eight races at 9:36 a.m. in Lane 3 against California, Penn, Navy, and Holy Cross.
The varsity four event begins with a time trial at 11:30 a.m., where the top eighteen finishers will move on to ABC Semifinals later that afternoon starting at 4 p.m.
This year marks Northeastern’s 58th appearance at the IRA Championships since their debut in 1965; they have missed only three editions of this regatta during that span. Northeastern crews have won three events—two by the first varsity (1988 and 1991) and one by the second varsity (1979). In total across all categories—including first through third varsities and fours—the Huskies have made sixty-nine Grand Final appearances.
Northeastern secured automatic qualification for this year’s IRAs following their performance two weeks ago at Eastern Sprints. There they finished third overall—their highest team placement in twenty years—with both their top two boats reaching Grand Finals for the first time since 2019. The first varsity captured bronze after holding off Dartmouth down the stretch; it was their first podium finish since 2015.
