No. 2 Cal Rowers Place Second at Nationals

Cal’s No. 2-ranked men’s varsity eight crew lost to its nemesis, No. 1 Washington, for the third time this spring, but this time it was for the IRA national rowing championship.

Cal crossed the line about a second behind the Huskies, who finished Sunday’s Grand Final race in a time of 5:37.493, while Cal had a time of 5:38.552 at Lake Natoma just outside Sacramento.

The winner of the varsity eight event is named the national champion in men’s rowing, and this is the third straight year that Washington has claimed the national championship. Cal last won the national championship in 2023 and 2022.

Washington and Cal have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 virtually all season. The Huskies finished ahead of Cal’s varsity eight in a dual match at Redwood Shores on April 25, and Washington edged Cal again in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships on May 17 at this same Lake Natoma site.

In Sunday’s race, Washington and Cal were the clear favorites, and they wound up first and second as expected. Third-place Princeton finished nearly two seconds behind Cal and Harvard placed fourth, ahead of fifth-place Dartmouth and sixth-place Stanford.

Cal won the varsity four event, winning the finals in that category by nearly three seconds over second-place Penn on Saturday.

In other grand finals on Sunday, Cal’s No. 2 varsity eight boat finished fifth in a race won by Princeton, while the Bears’ No. 3 varsity eight crew placed fourth, behind Washington, Harvard and Princeton.

None of those events is included in determining the national champ. Only the varsity eight winner is named the national champion.

Meanwhile, the Cal women placed eighth in the NCAA rowing championships in Gainesville, Georgia. Texas won the women’s title, with Stanford second.

Unlike the men’s national title, the women’s national champion is determined by a points system based on results in three events – varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four.

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