Men's Lightweight Rowing Wins Two Medals, Finishes Second in Team Standings at IRAs

Sunday, May 31

Sacramento, Calif.

1:18 p.m. ET / 10:18 a.m. PT

Princeton University

IRA National Championships

Men's Lightweight Rowing Wins Two Medals, Finishes Second in Team Standings at IRAs

May 31, 2026 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Year one under Head Coach Matt Smith ended on a high note for the Princeton University men's lightweight rowing team as the Tigers finished second in the team point standings at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, with the 1V winning silver and the 2V bronze.

Princeton ended the regatta with 48 points, while Harvard had 54. Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania each tallied 40.5 points.

"Today was amazing," said Smith. "To put two 8s on the podium at the national championship is no easy task. This team has made significant strides forward over the last nine months. Huge credit to the seniors for laying the ground work and our underclass man really stepped. All year we know it was going to take a mentality of team > teammate > self to do big things. The varsity race was a display of our year. They were down early like our fall racing but stuck to the plan and committed to each other to come through and medal. This mirrored the past couple months.

To also put all Princeton 8s on the podium for light men, heavy men and light women is a testament to the Princeton culture."

The 1V (5:49.214) earned a hard fought second place finish to win silver. Harvard (5:47.229) finished ahead of Princeton while the Tigers got past Dartmouth (5:50.339), Cornell (5:51.296), Penn (5:52.100) and MIT (5:52.160).

A second-place finish for the 1V!

??: https://t.co/MqiHje30mf pic.twitter.com/pHCJ726uXV
— Princeton Lights (@TigerLights) May 31, 2026

Sam Scowen, who sat in the 7 seat for the 1V, reflected on the boat's performance and what the senior class meant to the group.

"The varsity eight capped off their season with a commendable performance, coming through the rest of the field to capture a silver and second in the nation," said Scowen. "The boat wishes to express their thanks and congratulations to Hidde Lycklama, Reuben Cook, Adam Casler, Noah Klemmer Domonkos, Liam Dooley and the rest of the senior class for their outstanding contributions to the team. Thank you also to the coaches, the athletic support staff and the wider University. All to play for next year, Go Tigers!"

The 2V (5:58.238) earned bronze medal after finishing third in its Grand Final. Harvard (5:53.763) won gold and the University of Pennsylvania (5:55.245) silver while Georgetown (6:02.881) finished fourth, Navy (6:04.706) fifth and Dartmouth (6:06.111) sixth.

Charles Huckel, who sat in the 7 seat for the 2V, left the regatta and season excited about what lies ahead for the program.

"With the conclusion of the 2026 season, I believe this whole team can agree that we are pointed in an awesome direction," proclaimed Huckel. "The numerous achievements earned over the course of this year were made possible by the trust within our teammates and coaching staff. Coming from the perspective of a younger guy on the team, the upperclassmen did an outstanding job setting the tone from day one. Our future captains, Sam Scowen and Bach Ryan are both exceptional leaders and we are all excited to get back to work in the fall."

Lineups
1V
Bow Bach Ryan
2 Frederick Middleton
3 Hidde Lycklama
4 Luke Helstrom
5 Edward Galer
6 George Dolce
7 Sam Scowen
Stroke Reuben Cook
Cox Adam Casler

2V
Bow Benjamin Peron
2 Sebastian Lyne
3 Liam Dooley
4 Jack Hume
5 Noah Klemmer Domonkos
6 John Kiely
7 Charles Huckel
Stroke Ivo Monaghan
Cox Matteus Rueca

4+
Bow Peter Strecansky
2 Vincent Mann
3 Johannes Jakobsen
Stroke Reese Bommer
Cox James Swinehart