[fullmetal]

Updated results

Livestream home page: https://www.youtube.com/@irarowing7130

Men's varsity eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/f3w4auKNbA4...are&t=1306
Men's varsity eight repechage: https://www.youtube.com/live/KtBV2Tmr2Po...are&t=1258

Men's second varsity eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/f3w4auKNbA4...are&t=6108
Men's second varsity eight repechage: https://www.youtube.com/live/KtBV2Tmr2Po...are&t=3027

The Stanford men's rowing team and the Stanford lightweight women's rowing team compete for their respective national titles this weekend.  The men sent three boats: the varsity eight, the second varsity eight, and a varsity four.

In the men's varsity eight, Stanford was placed in a heat with Yale, Northeastern, Cornell, Navy, and Santa Clara.  Of the six boats, the top two finishers would advance to one of two A/B semifinals (which determine the top twelve teams and assure a finish of no worse than 12th place) with everyone else being relegated to a repechage (second-chance race).  Yale's varsity is stacked full of talented internationals (two US rowers out of eight), and as expected, Yale finished first.  Northeastern has been a peer institution this season when it comes to speed, and despite having beaten Northeastern earlier in April, Stanford unfortunately found themselves on the losing end of the battle for second place by 0.418 seconds.  It was a very tight race between Stanford and Northeastern.  Stanford led by about three seats through the first 1000 meters, but Northeastern made a calculated decision to take the rate up and burn hard, gradually taking a lead over Stanford that Stanford tried but couldn't overcome at the end.

In Stanford's afternoon repechage, only the winner would advance to the A/B semifinal.  That was a fairly straightforward race, with Stanford beating Boston University and easily beating Pac-12 foe Oregon State and MIT as well.  The varsity will race their semifinal at 8:02am ET on Saturday against Brown, Yale, Princeton, Syracuse, and Cornell, with the top three finishers advancing to "Final 1" (aka A final, or grand final).  Of the six boats in this semifinal, only Cornell and Stanford raced Friday afternoon.

The second varsity eight raced their heat against Brown, Princeton, Penn, UCSD, and Georgetown, with the top two finishers qualifying directly to the A/B semifinal and all others progressing to repechages.  Coming off the starting sequences, it was Brown, Princeton, and Penn in the lead, which would hold true steadily until the end of the race.  Stanford crossed in 4th place and raced their afternoon repechage against Cornell, Oregon State, and Santa Clara in 93F heat and counterproductive headwinds.  Stanford amassed a boat length's lead by the halfway point and looked to advance, but Cornell began to eat away at the lead and gradually eclipsed Stanford by 0.322 seconds at the line.  This is a most painful way to lose in rowing, being gradually overtaken in brutal conditions.  The second varsity will race their C/D semifinal at 8:58am ET on Saturday against Georgetown, UCSD, Drexel, and Santa Clara, all of who raced the repechages but potentially at different intensities.  The top three finishers will advance to the C (or third-level) final on Sunday, and all others will progress to the D (or fourth-level) final.

The varsity four event totaled 32 entries this year, so the regatta committee decided to use a time trial to seed crews into semifinals.  Time trials are individual races against the clock over a slightly shorter race distance with boats being released at short intervals onto the shortened course.  Stanford was one of the rare entries who finished exactly where they were originally seeded: 24th place.  However, late afternoon racing was suspended due to weather, and the semifinals had been scheduled for this late afternoon.  While Stanford had been scheduled to race in a DEF semifinal (best possible outcome: 19th place, worst possible outcome: 32nd place), it appears that the regatta committee will place boats directly into finals based on time trial results, which is always a known possible progression if one level of racing has to be removed.  Stanford will race in the fourth-level final at 10:18 ET on Saturday against Marist, Fairfield, San Diego (USD), Penn, and Cornell. They will finish no higher than 19th place and no lower than 24th place.

Though the IRA offers more events to be contested, Stanford doesn't yet have the roster size to field a third varsity eight or any of the lightweight men's events (two eights and a four).

The Stanford lightweight women will race the varsity eight and the varsity four events at this year's IRA championships.  They are not fielding a lightweight double (two-athlete boat).  The eight and the four will both race for lanes (all crews will progress to the grand final) in their respective heats on Saturday morning. The top finishers will be seeded into preferred lanes based on fairness.  The four races at 7:38am ET against Radcliffe (Harvard), Wisconsin, Boston University, Princeton, MIT, and Georgetown.  The eight races at 7:46am ET against Radcliffe (Harvard), Princeton, Boston University, Georgetown, and Wisconsin.

Go Stanford!

Complete livestream archives (all events)
Friday heats (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3w4auKN...=share&t=0
Friday repechages (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtBV2Tmr...=share&t=0
Saturday semifinals (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpgQxmv...=share&t=0
Sunday finals (not yet active): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUrDb32O...=share&t=0

[fullmetal]

Updated results

Livestream home page: https://www.youtube.com/@irarowing7130

Men's varsity eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/f3w4auKNbA4...are&t=1306
Men's varsity eight repechage: https://www.youtube.com/live/KtBV2Tmr2Po...are&t=1258

Men's second varsity eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/f3w4auKNbA4...are&t=6108
Men's second varsity eight repechage: https://www.youtube.com/live/KtBV2Tmr2Po...are&t=3027

The Stanford men's rowing team and the Stanford lightweight women's rowing team compete for their respective national titles this weekend.  The men sent three boats: the varsity eight, the second varsity eight, and a varsity four.

In the men's varsity eight, Stanford was placed in a heat with Yale, Northeastern, Cornell, Navy, and Santa Clara.  Of the six boats, the top two finishers would advance to one of two A/B semifinals (which determine the top twelve teams and assure a finish of no worse than 12th place) with everyone else being relegated to a repechage (second-chance race).  Yale's varsity is stacked full of talented internationals (two US rowers out of eight), and as expected, Yale finished first.  Northeastern has been a peer institution this season when it comes to speed, and despite having beaten Northeastern earlier in April, Stanford unfortunately found themselves on the losing end of the battle for second place by 0.418 seconds.  It was a very tight race between Stanford and Northeastern.  Stanford led by about three seats through the first 1000 meters, but Northeastern made a calculated decision to take the rate up and burn hard, gradually taking a lead over Stanford that Stanford tried but couldn't overcome at the end.

In Stanford's afternoon repechage, only the winner would advance to the A/B semifinal.  That was a fairly straightforward race, with Stanford beating Boston University and easily beating Pac-12 foe Oregon State and MIT as well.  The varsity will race their semifinal at 8:02am ET on Saturday against Brown, Yale, Princeton, Syracuse, and Cornell, with the top three finishers advancing to "Final 1" (aka A final, or grand final).  Of the six boats in this semifinal, only Cornell and Stanford raced Friday afternoon.

The second varsity eight raced their heat against Brown, Princeton, Penn, UCSD, and Georgetown, with the top two finishers qualifying directly to the A/B semifinal and all others progressing to repechages.  Coming off the starting sequences, it was Brown, Princeton, and Penn in the lead, which would hold true steadily until the end of the race.  Stanford crossed in 4th place and raced their afternoon repechage against Cornell, Oregon State, and Santa Clara in 93F heat and counterproductive headwinds.  Stanford amassed a boat length's lead by the halfway point and looked to advance, but Cornell began to eat away at the lead and gradually eclipsed Stanford by 0.322 seconds at the line.  This is a most painful way to lose in rowing, being gradually overtaken in brutal conditions.  The second varsity will race their C/D semifinal at 8:58am ET on Saturday against Georgetown, UCSD, Drexel, and Santa Clara, all of who raced the repechages but potentially at different intensities.  The top three finishers will advance to the C (or third-level) final on Sunday, and all others will progress to the D (or fourth-level) final.

The varsity four event totaled 32 entries this year, so the regatta committee decided to use a time trial to seed crews into semifinals.  Time trials are individual races against the clock over a slightly shorter race distance with boats being released at short intervals onto the shortened course.  Stanford was one of the rare entries who finished exactly where they were originally seeded: 24th place.  However, late afternoon racing was suspended due to weather, and the semifinals had been scheduled for this late afternoon.  While Stanford had been scheduled to race in a DEF semifinal (best possible outcome: 19th place, worst possible outcome: 32nd place), it appears that the regatta committee will place boats directly into finals based on time trial results, which is always a known possible progression if one level of racing has to be removed.  Stanford will race in the fourth-level final at 10:18 ET on Saturday against Marist, Fairfield, San Diego (USD), Penn, and Cornell. They will finish no higher than 19th place and no lower than 24th place.

Though the IRA offers more events to be contested, Stanford doesn't yet have the roster size to field a third varsity eight or any of the lightweight men's events (two eights and a four).

The Stanford lightweight women will race the varsity eight and the varsity four events at this year's IRA championships.  They are not fielding a lightweight double (two-athlete boat).  The eight and the four will both race for lanes (all crews will progress to the grand final) in their respective heats on Saturday morning. The top finishers will be seeded into preferred lanes based on fairness.  The four races at 7:38am ET against Radcliffe (Harvard), Wisconsin, Boston University, Princeton, MIT, and Georgetown.  The eight races at 7:46am ET against Radcliffe (Harvard), Princeton, Boston University, Georgetown, and Wisconsin.

Go Stanford!

Complete livestream archives (all events)
Friday heats (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3w4auKN...=share&t=0
Friday repechages (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtBV2Tmr...=share&t=0
Saturday semifinals (completed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpgQxmv...=share&t=0
Sunday finals (not yet active): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUrDb32O...=share&t=0

[fullmetal]

Lightweight women's four heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...hare&t=806
Lightweight women's eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=1233
Men's varsity eight A/B semifinal: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=2114
Men's second varsity eight C/D semifinal: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=5500
Men's varsity four fourth-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...re&t=10305

In the lightweight women's events, the broadcast wasn't able to catch the start of these races since the previous race took more than eight minutes.  Today's race schedule was compressed to eight minute centers (races starting every eight minutes) in order to minimize the chances of forecasted weather affecting the rest of the schedule.

In the Stanford's first race of the day, the lightweight women's four raced for lanes against six other boats (yes, seven total crews in this race) and came away with fourth place, pushing just a little bit harder to nip Wisconsin and Boston University at the line while crossing after Princeton, MIT, and Georgetown in that order.  Princeton took a dominant lead from the start and finished about 12.9 seconds ahead of Stanford, which is pretty significant.  Stanford will race the grand final tomorrow at 8:08am ET.

The lightweight women's eight took a more aggressive approach in their heat (also a race for lanes), striding out to a steady second place behind Princeton while Georgetown raced through a fading Boston University to take third.  In a race for lanes, one can imagine Boston University firing up their engines for a good first thousand meters before shutting it down in the second half of the race, thus saving their legs for tomorrow.  But...who knows?  Stanford races the grand final tomorrow at 9:36am ET.

The Stanford men's varsity eight raced to fifth place in their semifinal against Princeton, Yale, Syracuse, Brown, and Cornell.  There were two stories in this race: first, Princeton beating Yale was a little unexpected given Yale's pedigree.  However, Princeton has been hot this season, and a lot of Tiger fans are feeling pretty confident after being edged out of the grand final last year by Brown.  The second story of the race was Syracuse beating Brown, which continues Syracuse's ascent in recent years and also means Brown didn't make the grand final this year after making it last year.  Stanford found themselves out of the race for the third and last qualifying spot but did not give up or let up.  They will race in the petite final tomorrow at 10:00am ET.  Their goal should be to beat one or more of Harvard, Brown, or Dartmouth, as well as Penn and Cornell.

The second varsity eight raced their semifinal at 8:58am after a grueling repechage yesterday afternoon, and I don't know if they were recovered, but they made it look easy.  They had just over a length lead on a tight pack at 500m (UCSD, Drexel, Georgetown, and Santa Clara with not more than four seats between front and back of the pack).  Stanford pushed out to about a six seat advantage at the finish line, just comfortably ahead of a three-way fight for two qualifying spots behind them (UCSD and Drexel advanced about two lengths ahead of Georgetown).  The second varsity will race in the third-level semifinal tomorrow at 8:32am ET, where they face La Salle, UCSD, Wisconsin, Navy, and Drexel.  I think Stanford is favored here, as they beat Wisconsin by 4.1 seconds during the regular season, but I know that crew would have been competitive in the petite final if not for 0.322 seconds yesterday.  

In Stanford's last race of the day, the men's varsity four raced in the fourth-level final against San Diego (USD Toreros), Penn, Fairfield, Marist, and Cornell.  The men's varsity four event often sees entries from smaller programs who don't qualify a heavyweight men's varsity eight at the IRA, so we often see the top four athletes from smaller programs matching up against some combination of four athletes from better-known programs.  Traditionally, programs will favor the eights over the four, so you would be expecting the #17-20 athletes or the #21-24 athletes from most programs.  But you could see the #9-12 athletes from a smaller program that only fields an eight and a four.

Anyway, San Diego (coached by Stanford alum Bart Thompson '12) from lane one punched out to an early length lead in this race followed by Penn next to them, Fairfield, and all the way across the course in lane seven, Stanford.  Though San Diego eventually broke free and had open water behind them, Stanford hung on about a length down from a virtual tie for second place between Penn and Fairfield during the body of the race.  Coming into the last 500m, Penn shook off Fairfield for a clear second place finish behind San Diego, and Stanford followed Fairfield about 3.2 second behind for fourth place.  The Stanford varsity four concludes their regatta having placed 22nd overall, and I think that is a fine finish for them, having outperformed their seeding.

Looking forward: 

The lightweight women need a statement win for the season after being just a bit slower than expected, but it is Princeton's races in all three events to lose at this point.  

The men's varsity had an outside shot at cracking the grand final, but Northeastern took a big step forward.  Although Stanford made it to the A/B semifinal, beating Syracuse was too tall of an order for a crew that raced an afternoon repechage less than 24 hrs earlier.  Being only 4.3 second off of kal in single-race regattas this season was great, but the IRA is a multi-day regatta with multiple races, and that kind of fitness/mental toughness is hard to assess from single races.  Even 4.3 seconds back from kal in the other semifinal wouldn't have qualified Stanford for the grands--Northeastern was only 3.4 sec back from kal.  Harvard was 4.368 sec back from kal in that semifinal, so perhaps Stanford and Harvard will find themselves evenly matched tomorrow.

The men's second varsity redeemed themselves with a win today and will need to win tomorrow's third-level final if they want a moral victory.  Conditions between the third- and second-level finals will change drastically given the 96 minutes between the two races, so they won't even get a chance to compare times.  Good hunting tomorrow, gentlemen.

Go Stanford!

[fullmetal]

Lightweight women's four heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...hare&t=806
Lightweight women's eight heat: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=1233
Men's varsity eight A/B semifinal: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=2114
Men's second varsity eight C/D semifinal: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...are&t=5500
Men's varsity four fourth-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/qdpgQxmvrzY...re&t=10305

In the lightweight women's events, the broadcast wasn't able to catch the start of these races since the previous race took more than eight minutes.  Today's race schedule was compressed to eight minute centers (races starting every eight minutes) in order to minimize the chances of forecasted weather affecting the rest of the schedule.

In the Stanford's first race of the day, the lightweight women's four raced for lanes against six other boats (yes, seven total crews in this race) and came away with fourth place, pushing just a little bit harder to nip Wisconsin and Boston University at the line while crossing after Princeton, MIT, and Georgetown in that order.  Princeton took a dominant lead from the start and finished about 12.9 seconds ahead of Stanford, which is pretty significant.  Stanford will race the grand final tomorrow at 8:08am ET.

The lightweight women's eight took a more aggressive approach in their heat (also a race for lanes), striding out to a steady second place behind Princeton while Georgetown raced through a fading Boston University to take third.  In a race for lanes, one can imagine Boston University firing up their engines for a good first thousand meters before shutting it down in the second half of the race, thus saving their legs for tomorrow.  But...who knows?  Stanford races the grand final tomorrow at 9:36am ET.

The Stanford men's varsity eight raced to fifth place in their semifinal against Princeton, Yale, Syracuse, Brown, and Cornell.  There were two stories in this race: first, Princeton beating Yale was a little unexpected given Yale's pedigree.  However, Princeton has been hot this season, and a lot of Tiger fans are feeling pretty confident after being edged out of the grand final last year by Brown.  The second story of the race was Syracuse beating Brown, which continues Syracuse's ascent in recent years and also means Brown didn't make the grand final this year after making it last year.  Stanford found themselves out of the race for the third and last qualifying spot but did not give up or let up.  They will race in the petite final tomorrow at 10:00am ET.  Their goal should be to beat one or more of Harvard, Brown, or Dartmouth, as well as Penn and Cornell.

The second varsity eight raced their semifinal at 8:58am after a grueling repechage yesterday afternoon, and I don't know if they were recovered, but they made it look easy.  They had just over a length lead on a tight pack at 500m (UCSD, Drexel, Georgetown, and Santa Clara with not more than four seats between front and back of the pack).  Stanford pushed out to about a six seat advantage at the finish line, just comfortably ahead of a three-way fight for two qualifying spots behind them (UCSD and Drexel advanced about two lengths ahead of Georgetown).  The second varsity will race in the third-level semifinal tomorrow at 8:32am ET, where they face La Salle, UCSD, Wisconsin, Navy, and Drexel.  I think Stanford is favored here, as they beat Wisconsin by 4.1 seconds during the regular season, but I know that crew would have been competitive in the petite final if not for 0.322 seconds yesterday.  

In Stanford's last race of the day, the men's varsity four raced in the fourth-level final against San Diego (USD Toreros), Penn, Fairfield, Marist, and Cornell.  The men's varsity four event often sees entries from smaller programs who don't qualify a heavyweight men's varsity eight at the IRA, so we often see the top four athletes from smaller programs matching up against some combination of four athletes from better-known programs.  Traditionally, programs will favor the eights over the four, so you would be expecting the #17-20 athletes or the #21-24 athletes from most programs.  But you could see the #9-12 athletes from a smaller program that only fields an eight and a four.

Anyway, San Diego (coached by Stanford alum Bart Thompson '12) from lane one punched out to an early length lead in this race followed by Penn next to them, Fairfield, and all the way across the course in lane seven, Stanford.  Though San Diego eventually broke free and had open water behind them, Stanford hung on about a length down from a virtual tie for second place between Penn and Fairfield during the body of the race.  Coming into the last 500m, Penn shook off Fairfield for a clear second place finish behind San Diego, and Stanford followed Fairfield about 3.2 second behind for fourth place.  The Stanford varsity four concludes their regatta having placed 22nd overall, and I think that is a fine finish for them, having outperformed their seeding.

Looking forward: 

The lightweight women need a statement win for the season after being just a bit slower than expected, but it is Princeton's races in all three events to lose at this point.  

The men's varsity had an outside shot at cracking the grand final, but Northeastern took a big step forward.  Although Stanford made it to the A/B semifinal, beating Syracuse was too tall of an order for a crew that raced an afternoon repechage less than 24 hrs earlier.  Being only 4.3 second off of kal in single-race regattas this season was great, but the IRA is a multi-day regatta with multiple races, and that kind of fitness/mental toughness is hard to assess from single races.  Even 4.3 seconds back from kal in the other semifinal wouldn't have qualified Stanford for the grands--Northeastern was only 3.4 sec back from kal.  Harvard was 4.368 sec back from kal in that semifinal, so perhaps Stanford and Harvard will find themselves evenly matched tomorrow.

The men's second varsity redeemed themselves with a win today and will need to win tomorrow's third-level final if they want a moral victory.  Conditions between the third- and second-level finals will change drastically given the 96 minutes between the two races, so they won't even get a chance to compare times.  Good hunting tomorrow, gentlemen.

Go Stanford!

[M T]

Excellent write up, especially for those of us that don’t know the sport. Thanks!

[M T]

Excellent write up, especially for those of us that don’t know the sport. Thanks!

[fullmetal]

Sunday racing in chronological order
Lightweight women's four grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...re&t=1020s
Men's second varsity eight third-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=2358
Lightweight women's eight grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=6158
Men's varsity eight second-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=7575

Sunday is always a special day of final racing at the IRA regatta, although the top finals for the men's fours were completed Saturday, and we shouldn't take that away from the athletes.  Stanford raced four boats as shown above: the lightweight women's four who raced for lanes yesterday, the lightweight women's eight who raced for lanes Saturday, the men's second varsity eight who won their C/D semifinal to advance to Sunday's C final (third-level final), and the men's varsity eight who finished fifth in their A/B semifinal and progressed to the B final (second-level final).

In the lightweight women's four grand final, Stanford was seeded fourth and started alongside six other boats: Princeton, MIT, Boston University (BU), Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe (Harvard).  Coming out of the start sequence, Princeton began taking a strong lead, followed not too closely by MIT, Georgetown, and BU (who was in a far lane).  Stanford, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe stayed in a three-boat pack through the middle 50% of the race as Princeton extended their lead.  Approaching the finishing sprint, MIT closed on Princeton hard but fell short by less than a second. BU sprinted through Georgetown, who finished about a length ahead of the three-boat pack that had broken apart.  It was Stanford who couldn't keep up and crossed last in seventh place but still connected to the pack.  

The men's second varsity eight won Saturday's C/D semifinal knowing that they could have been in the A/B semifinal if not for 0.322 seconds and Cornell.  Today, they lined up against Navy, Wisconsin, La Salle, Drexel, and UCSD in the third-level final of the second varsity eight event.  Although Wisconsin was given the favored lane, it was Stanford who pushed out to an early lead which they built to nearly a length by the first 500m.  Following Stanford, it was Navy and Wisconsin neck and neck, with Wisconsin scraping out a narrow lead over Navy, who had in turn moved out to a length over the remaining three crews.  Funny thing about rowing with a good enough lead, the boat often relaxes, finds its rhythm, and lengthens out more efficiently for even more speed.  That was Stanford through the middle 1000m.  Coming into the last 500m, Wisconsin tried to mount a charge against Stanford's length lead, but it was Navy who sprinted past Wisconsin, hot on the tail of Stanford.  It wasn't enough from Navy, as Stanford held off all challengers in style to win the third-level final for a 13th place overall finish.

The lightweight women's eight grand final saw Stanford seeded second to Princeton according to Saturday morning's race for lanes, and true to form, it was Princeton who jumped out to an immediate lead on Stanford, who had carved out a small lead of their own over the other four-boat pack fighting among themselves to not get dropped.  Half a length behind Stanford, it was BU pushing out over Georgetown at the 500m mark.  Princeton was uncatchable today, despite Stanford gaining traction and pushing out further over BU.  Georgetown had designs as well and drew even with BU by 1250m and began to take ground on Stanford as BU faded.  Approaching the line, Stanford held off Georgetown's surge and crossed second for silver, with the rest of the field finishing in the exact order as Saturday's race for lanes.

In the penultimate race of the regatta, the Stanford varsity men lined up against Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, and Cornell in the petite final of the men's varsity eight event to contest places #7 through #12.  It is a sign of growth in the sport that such well-resourced and talented programs such as Harvard and Brown are racing in the petite final this year after racing in the grand final last year.  Harvard felt the disrespect and burned hard for the early lead off the start, followed closely by a level field.  Just before the 500m mark however, Stanford began pushing out with their base speed, earning a little over a deck's lead over Harvard by the 750m.  At the 1000m mark, Stanford had gained another two seats on Harvard, but Brown had increased their stroke rate for speed and had drawn level with Harvard.  By 1250m, Brown had about a deck over Harvard. Stanford was still pushing out and led Brown by five seats at that point.  It turns out that Brown's rate change was sustained through the 1500m mark, where they drew level with Stanford.  Stanford couldn't respond to Brown's challenge but continued to hold Harvard at bay, and so the Cardinal finished second in the petite final, notably ahead of Harvard and Dartmouth.

For the lightweight women, it's been a rebuilding effort since covid, and there have been massive roster attrition even after covid under the new coaching regime that might give one pause.  However, with a silver medal in the eight, there's no doubt that the future of the program is bright, and Stanford needs to keep finding ways to recruit, retain, and move forward if they want to retake the throne that Princeton has assumed in the wake of the covid non-cancellation.

The men put down a solid effort this weekend, hampered by racing conditions and margins of less than half a second that didn't go their way.  The trendline for the program is pointing way up, from 13th in the nation last year to 8th in the nation this year in a sport where every place in the rankings is measured in hundreds of thousands of training meters, sweat, and focus.  The grand final was the goal this year, and that speaks to how well the training was going and where the competitive mindset was focused.  It'll take a little more next year to elbow their way past meteoric Syracuse and Northeastern into the grand final, but with returning experience and incoming talent, it'll be just a matter of execution next season.  

Go Stanford!

[fullmetal]

Sunday racing in chronological order
Lightweight women's four grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...re&t=1020s
Men's second varsity eight third-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=2358
Lightweight women's eight grand final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=6158
Men's varsity eight second-level final: https://www.youtube.com/live/JUrDb32O1kQ...are&t=7575

Sunday is always a special day of final racing at the IRA regatta, although the top finals for the men's fours were completed Saturday, and we shouldn't take that away from the athletes.  Stanford raced four boats as shown above: the lightweight women's four who raced for lanes yesterday, the lightweight women's eight who raced for lanes Saturday, the men's second varsity eight who won their C/D semifinal to advance to Sunday's C final (third-level final), and the men's varsity eight who finished fifth in their A/B semifinal and progressed to the B final (second-level final).

In the lightweight women's four grand final, Stanford was seeded fourth and started alongside six other boats: Princeton, MIT, Boston University (BU), Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe (Harvard).  Coming out of the start sequence, Princeton began taking a strong lead, followed not too closely by MIT, Georgetown, and BU (who was in a far lane).  Stanford, Wisconsin, and Radcliffe stayed in a three-boat pack through the middle 50% of the race as Princeton extended their lead.  Approaching the finishing sprint, MIT closed on Princeton hard but fell short by less than a second. BU sprinted through Georgetown, who finished about a length ahead of the three-boat pack that had broken apart.  It was Stanford who couldn't keep up and crossed last in seventh place but still connected to the pack.  

The men's second varsity eight won Saturday's C/D semifinal knowing that they could have been in the A/B semifinal if not for 0.322 seconds and Cornell.  Today, they lined up against Navy, Wisconsin, La Salle, Drexel, and UCSD in the third-level final of the second varsity eight event.  Although Wisconsin was given the favored lane, it was Stanford who pushed out to an early lead which they built to nearly a length by the first 500m.  Following Stanford, it was Navy and Wisconsin neck and neck, with Wisconsin scraping out a narrow lead over Navy, who had in turn moved out to a length over the remaining three crews.  Funny thing about rowing with a good enough lead, the boat often relaxes, finds its rhythm, and lengthens out more efficiently for even more speed.  That was Stanford through the middle 1000m.  Coming into the last 500m, Wisconsin tried to mount a charge against Stanford's length lead, but it was Navy who sprinted past Wisconsin, hot on the tail of Stanford.  It wasn't enough from Navy, as Stanford held off all challengers in style to win the third-level final for a 13th place overall finish.

The lightweight women's eight grand final saw Stanford seeded second to Princeton according to Saturday morning's race for lanes, and true to form, it was Princeton who jumped out to an immediate lead on Stanford, who had carved out a small lead of their own over the other four-boat pack fighting among themselves to not get dropped.  Half a length behind Stanford, it was BU pushing out over Georgetown at the 500m mark.  Princeton was uncatchable today, despite Stanford gaining traction and pushing out further over BU.  Georgetown had designs as well and drew even with BU by 1250m and began to take ground on Stanford as BU faded.  Approaching the line, Stanford held off Georgetown's surge and crossed second for silver, with the rest of the field finishing in the exact order as Saturday's race for lanes.

In the penultimate race of the regatta, the Stanford varsity men lined up against Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, and Cornell in the petite final of the men's varsity eight event to contest places #7 through #12.  It is a sign of growth in the sport that such well-resourced and talented programs such as Harvard and Brown are racing in the petite final this year after racing in the grand final last year.  Harvard felt the disrespect and burned hard for the early lead off the start, followed closely by a level field.  Just before the 500m mark however, Stanford began pushing out with their base speed, earning a little over a deck's lead over Harvard by the 750m.  At the 1000m mark, Stanford had gained another two seats on Harvard, but Brown had increased their stroke rate for speed and had drawn level with Harvard.  By 1250m, Brown had about a deck over Harvard. Stanford was still pushing out and led Brown by five seats at that point.  It turns out that Brown's rate change was sustained through the 1500m mark, where they drew level with Stanford.  Stanford couldn't respond to Brown's challenge but continued to hold Harvard at bay, and so the Cardinal finished second in the petite final, notably ahead of Harvard and Dartmouth.

For the lightweight women, it's been a rebuilding effort since covid, and there have been massive roster attrition even after covid under the new coaching regime that might give one pause.  However, with a silver medal in the eight, there's no doubt that the future of the program is bright, and Stanford needs to keep finding ways to recruit, retain, and move forward if they want to retake the throne that Princeton has assumed in the wake of the covid non-cancellation.

The men put down a solid effort this weekend, hampered by racing conditions and margins of less than half a second that didn't go their way.  The trendline for the program is pointing way up, from 13th in the nation last year to 8th in the nation this year in a sport where every place in the rankings is measured in hundreds of thousands of training meters, sweat, and focus.  The grand final was the goal this year, and that speaks to how well the training was going and where the competitive mindset was focused.  It'll take a little more next year to elbow their way past meteoric Syracuse and Northeastern into the grand final, but with returning experience and incoming talent, it'll be just a matter of execution next season.  

Go Stanford!