[BigEasyCard]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

[BigEasyCard]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

[mbdude]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

For us novices, are IRA championships rowing's equivalent of NCAAs, or 2 separate entities?

[mbdude]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

For us novices, are IRA championships rowing's equivalent of NCAAs, or 2 separate entities?

[Canalejas]

As I understand it, collegiate rowing competitions exist for both men and women.  And for each gender, there are open weight competitions and competitions that restrict the weight of the rowers.  The restricted ones are called Lightweight.  

However, only the women's open class has an NCAA-awarded championship.  The women's lightweight class and all the men compete for championships outside the NCAA.  That's how Stanford came in 4th at the NCAAs (open weight) the same weekend that it won a championship at the IRAs (lightweight) despite the championships being held thousands of miles apart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_ro...ed_States)

[Canalejas]

As I understand it, collegiate rowing competitions exist for both men and women.  And for each gender, there are open weight competitions and competitions that restrict the weight of the rowers.  The restricted ones are called Lightweight.  

However, only the women's open class has an NCAA-awarded championship.  The women's lightweight class and all the men compete for championships outside the NCAA.  That's how Stanford came in 4th at the NCAAs (open weight) the same weekend that it won a championship at the IRAs (lightweight) despite the championships being held thousands of miles apart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_ro...ed_States)

[winflop]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

Women's tennis has won more than half of ALL national championships that have ever been won in the sport

[winflop]

.. over the past five years is Women's Lightweight Rowing with FIVE consecutive national championships:

https://gostanford.exposure.co/five-spot

Extraordinary performance.

Geaux Cardinal!

Women's tennis has won more than half of ALL national championships that have ever been won in the sport

[fullmetal]

Canalejas is correct.  I'm not sure if there was a national women's rowing championship before the NCAA created one, but the IRA regatta has always been the men's heavyweight and lightweight championship regatta.  Note that it's only been in the last 20 or so years that Harvard and Yale have begun participating in the regatta...previously, preparations for the Harvard-Yale (or Yale-Harvard) race were more of a priority (and those races are conducted over longer, non-standard distances, which requires a slightly different approach to preparation).

The IRA regatta only admits member institutions who have varsity rowing programs; club programs are not granted eligibility.  Thus, the lightweight women's field was only seven schools at this year's IRA (last year Tulsa sent a lightweight double, but not this year).  The field is still top-loaded as this tends to be the proving grounds for future US lightweight women's national team rowers (there are fewer international events for lightweight women these days, and the Olympic Committee is pressuring rowing to drop all lightweight events after 2020).  Some lightweight national teamers actually rowed openweight at NCAA programs in college, but there's less of that now as size has become a premium in the NCAA programs, and smaller (but still fast) athletes can only either row for a lightweight program (<= 130 lbs; there are few programs in existence) or accept a seat in a lower boat (second varsity eight, varsity four) at an openweight program.

[fullmetal]

Canalejas is correct.  I'm not sure if there was a national women's rowing championship before the NCAA created one, but the IRA regatta has always been the men's heavyweight and lightweight championship regatta.  Note that it's only been in the last 20 or so years that Harvard and Yale have begun participating in the regatta...previously, preparations for the Harvard-Yale (or Yale-Harvard) race were more of a priority (and those races are conducted over longer, non-standard distances, which requires a slightly different approach to preparation).

The IRA regatta only admits member institutions who have varsity rowing programs; club programs are not granted eligibility.  Thus, the lightweight women's field was only seven schools at this year's IRA (last year Tulsa sent a lightweight double, but not this year).  The field is still top-loaded as this tends to be the proving grounds for future US lightweight women's national team rowers (there are fewer international events for lightweight women these days, and the Olympic Committee is pressuring rowing to drop all lightweight events after 2020).  Some lightweight national teamers actually rowed openweight at NCAA programs in college, but there's less of that now as size has become a premium in the NCAA programs, and smaller (but still fast) athletes can only either row for a lightweight program (<= 130 lbs; there are few programs in existence) or accept a seat in a lower boat (second varsity eight, varsity four) at an openweight program.