Friday, June 1
West Windsor, N.J.
8:00 AM
Princeton University
vs
IRA Day 1
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Heavyweights Ready To Push Top Seeds Again, Vie For IRA National Title At Nearby Mercer Lake
May 30, 2018 | Heavyweight Rowing
The Princeton heavyweights may have left Sprints without a medal, but they certainly carried away some confidence and belief that they can challenge the best boats in the nation during the IRA championship weekend.
Now they are a couple days and a few miles away from finding out just how close they have gotten.
The 2018 IRA national championships will be held June 1-3 at nearby Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., where Princeton will send four crews, including its sixth-seeded varsity eight. The Tigers will open the weekend Friday at 8:20 am in the third heat, where they will compete for a top-two finish against the likes of California, Dartmouth, and Wisconsin.
2018 IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS LINKS
Princeton made big gains heading into Sprints, where it cut into its deficits against both Yale and Brown and simply ended up on the wrong end of a wild three-team sprint for the final two medal spots. Reigning IRA champion Yale held it seed and won its fourth straight Sprints crown, but Princeton was less than .8 of a second from a silver medal.
"We have absolutely continued to build speed," senior Tom George said. "The national championship is always what we race for. It is why we do this sport and being able to race a stacked field makes it all the more exciting. We get to race Cal in the heat, which is the first time we will race a west coast school, so that makes it all the more exciting."
Princeton has finished in the top four of the IRA V8 final in each of the last four years, a stretch that followed a seven-year run of finishing between sixth and 13th at IRAs. Under head coach Greg Hughes, Princeton has done an impressive job at peaking in the biggest weekend of the year. In 2016, all Princeton boats earned medal, including gold for the 3V. Last season, Princeton either surpassed or maintained its seed in all events at IRAs.
As for this weekend, George can't wait to see what Princeton can achieve.
"It will be my last race as a Princeton Tiger which will be emotional, but it makes me even hungrier to be successful with this group," he said. "I am confident that if we continue to improve and show the gritty determination that we did at Sprints then we can ruffle a few feathers."
The Sprints champion 2V, which topped Yale in a thriller three weeks ago on Lake Quinsigamond, will enter the weekend as the second seed and will compete Friday in a 9:10 heat with both Harvard and Wisconsin. The Tiger 2V hasn't won IRA gold since 1998 — the last year the 1V also won IRA gold — and top-seeded Washington has won 2V gold in nine of the last 11 seasons.
The Princeton 3V won silver at Sprints and will be the fourth seed at IRAs, which begin with a 10:10 heat with Harvard, Navy and Wisconsin. Princeton will also enter a four, which opens competition Friday with a 10:40 heat.
The IRAs are a daunting weekend because of the pressure in every race, especially the Saturday semifinals. Just as Princeton did before Sprints, the Tigers know that boats behind them will have gained speed heading into the weekend. The same is true of boats in front of them.
But Princeton brought a mentality into Sprints that they believe in, and you can be sure it will be there at Mercer Lake this weekend.
"A race like the Sprints final is why we do this sport," George said. "Going toe to toe with three other very fast crews is always awesome. Although we were on the wrong side of this result, we showed that we are in the mix going forward. We have three weeks to overturn those few seconds, and although that is no easy task, it is what makes the sport enjoyable."
"We went out there to try and win the [Sprints final], and we gave everything in both the heat and final — unfortunately we ran out of track this time, but I have every confidence that this group of individuals will continue to progress," he added. "It is always frustrating to beat a crew in the heat and lose to them in the final, but we wanted to make a statement that we were here to play, not simply take part, and we did that."
VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 8:20 am
California, Princeton, Dartmouth, Wisconsin, Florida Inst. of Technology, Marist (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 8:45/8:55 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 12:00 pm
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 9:10 am
Princeton, Harvard, Wisconsin, Navy, Temple (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 9:25/9:35 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 11:00 am
THIRD VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 10:10 am
Princeton, Harvard, Navy, Wisconsin (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 10:15/10:25 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 10:40 am
VARSITY FOUR
Friday • Heat • 10:40 am
MIT, Princeton, Syracuse, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Wisconsin (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 10:35/10:45 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 9:30 am
Now they are a couple days and a few miles away from finding out just how close they have gotten.
The 2018 IRA national championships will be held June 1-3 at nearby Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., where Princeton will send four crews, including its sixth-seeded varsity eight. The Tigers will open the weekend Friday at 8:20 am in the third heat, where they will compete for a top-two finish against the likes of California, Dartmouth, and Wisconsin.
2018 IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS LINKS
| Live Video | Live Results | Spectator Information |
| Schedule/Heat Draw | @TigerHeavies | Princeton's IRA History |
Princeton made big gains heading into Sprints, where it cut into its deficits against both Yale and Brown and simply ended up on the wrong end of a wild three-team sprint for the final two medal spots. Reigning IRA champion Yale held it seed and won its fourth straight Sprints crown, but Princeton was less than .8 of a second from a silver medal.
"We have absolutely continued to build speed," senior Tom George said. "The national championship is always what we race for. It is why we do this sport and being able to race a stacked field makes it all the more exciting. We get to race Cal in the heat, which is the first time we will race a west coast school, so that makes it all the more exciting."
Princeton has finished in the top four of the IRA V8 final in each of the last four years, a stretch that followed a seven-year run of finishing between sixth and 13th at IRAs. Under head coach Greg Hughes, Princeton has done an impressive job at peaking in the biggest weekend of the year. In 2016, all Princeton boats earned medal, including gold for the 3V. Last season, Princeton either surpassed or maintained its seed in all events at IRAs.
As for this weekend, George can't wait to see what Princeton can achieve.
"It will be my last race as a Princeton Tiger which will be emotional, but it makes me even hungrier to be successful with this group," he said. "I am confident that if we continue to improve and show the gritty determination that we did at Sprints then we can ruffle a few feathers."
The Sprints champion 2V, which topped Yale in a thriller three weeks ago on Lake Quinsigamond, will enter the weekend as the second seed and will compete Friday in a 9:10 heat with both Harvard and Wisconsin. The Tiger 2V hasn't won IRA gold since 1998 — the last year the 1V also won IRA gold — and top-seeded Washington has won 2V gold in nine of the last 11 seasons.
The Princeton 3V won silver at Sprints and will be the fourth seed at IRAs, which begin with a 10:10 heat with Harvard, Navy and Wisconsin. Princeton will also enter a four, which opens competition Friday with a 10:40 heat.
The IRAs are a daunting weekend because of the pressure in every race, especially the Saturday semifinals. Just as Princeton did before Sprints, the Tigers know that boats behind them will have gained speed heading into the weekend. The same is true of boats in front of them.
But Princeton brought a mentality into Sprints that they believe in, and you can be sure it will be there at Mercer Lake this weekend.
"A race like the Sprints final is why we do this sport," George said. "Going toe to toe with three other very fast crews is always awesome. Although we were on the wrong side of this result, we showed that we are in the mix going forward. We have three weeks to overturn those few seconds, and although that is no easy task, it is what makes the sport enjoyable."
"We went out there to try and win the [Sprints final], and we gave everything in both the heat and final — unfortunately we ran out of track this time, but I have every confidence that this group of individuals will continue to progress," he added. "It is always frustrating to beat a crew in the heat and lose to them in the final, but we wanted to make a statement that we were here to play, not simply take part, and we did that."
VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 8:20 am
California, Princeton, Dartmouth, Wisconsin, Florida Inst. of Technology, Marist (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 8:45/8:55 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 12:00 pm
SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 9:10 am
Princeton, Harvard, Wisconsin, Navy, Temple (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 9:25/9:35 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 11:00 am
THIRD VARSITY EIGHT
Friday • Heat • 10:10 am
Princeton, Harvard, Navy, Wisconsin (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 10:15/10:25 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 10:40 am
VARSITY FOUR
Friday • Heat • 10:40 am
MIT, Princeton, Syracuse, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Wisconsin (lanes TBA)
Saturday • Semifinal • 10:35/10:45 am
Sunday • Grand Final • 9:30 am
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