Varsity Eight Paces Brown Crew in Semifinals of IRA National Championships

Friday, June 3

Brown University

IRA Regatta

Varsity Eight Paces Brown Crew in Semifinals of IRA National Championships

6/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew

Camden, N.J. – Battling severe winds, which actually forced race officials to reorder the lanes for the varsity eight semifinal heats, Brown men's crew advanced three boats to tomorrow morning's grand final and two more to the petite final, as the bears remain in contention for a 2011 IRA National Championship.

The winds seemed to pick up as the afternoon races took place on the Cooper River, but the Brown varsity eight boat battled through them on their way to a second-place finish in the first semifinal heat. Bruno finished in 5:31.867, just a few seats behind first-place California.

The V8 will square off against Princeton, Cal, Harvard, Washington and Wisconsin and the varsity eight grand final.

In the second semifinal of the 2V8, Brown was narrowly edged by Princeton for third-place in a tough race in which the swirling conditions were definitely a factor. The Bears will face Dartmouth, Penn, BU, Syracuse, Yale and Navy in the petite final.

Brown second grand final participant will be its freshman eight boat. In a competitive heat against California and Princeton, Bruno finished in 5:47.506, three seconds behind the Tigers and eight behind the Golden Bears.

Along with Cal and Princeton, the Bears will also take on Harvard, Washington and BU in the freshman grand final.

In one of the closest races of the day, Navy, Stanford and Brown all finished within six tenths of second between each other in the second semi heat of the varsity four. The Midshipmen finished first with a time of 6:20.080, while the Cardinal was .007 behind them and the Bears just .6 seconds off the pace.

The three teams all advance to the V4 grand final along with Washington, Drexel and Wisconsin.

Brown's open four boat finished third with a t time of 6:39.879 and will take on Cal and Penn in the petite final.

RESULTS

MV8 S1