Bulldogs Look For National Title

IRA Regatta Begins Thursday on Cooper River

May 29, 2007

The Yale men's heavyweight crew looks to improve on its sensational Eastern Sprints finish this weekend at the event known as the national championships.

The Bulldogs head to Camden, N.J., and the Cooper River for the May 29-June 2 Intercollegiate Rowing Association 2007 Championships.

Yale, seeded fourth among the varsity eights, competes in a Thursday morning heat with Wisconsin and Penn. The top three seeds are Washington, Harvard and California. If the Elis advance to the Friday afternoon semifinals, and avoid coming back to the river for Thursday's repechage heats, they could earn a slot in the Saturday afternoon championship finals.

The Bulldog first varsity includes Hunter Swartz (stroke), Sean Hurley (seven), Patrick Purdy (six), Charlie Cole (five), Andrew Collard (four), Pieter Morgan (three), Michael Smith (two), Jack Vogelsang (bow) and coxswain Alfred Shikany.

"The varsity is rowing with the same focus and intensity they have had all year," said Yale head coach John Pescatore. "They are a disciplined crew. Practices (since Sprints) have been going well and everyone is motivated for more competition."

Since Pescatore saw five Yale boats reach the Grand Final at the May 13 Sprints, the Eli rowers have been through exams and graduation with little change in focus.

"What's good about this team is that no changes are evident since exams finished," said the Yale head coach. "Our athletes maintained a high level of commitment to their rowing and training."

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association runs this regatta, considered to be the United States collegiate national championship of rowing. Since 1995, it has been held on the Cooper River and includes both men's and women's (lightweight) events for sweep boats of all sizes. Today, Columbia, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Navy, and Syracuse are members of the association. Each year these five schools choose who to invite to the regatta and are responsible for its organization along with the ECAC. The IRA is the oldest college rowing championship in the United States.

Harvard and Yale, however, did not participate in the heavyweight divisions of the event. After losing to Cornell in 1897, Harvard and Yale chose to avoid the IRA so as not to diminish their own race, and it soon became part of each school's tradition. In 2003, Harvard and Yale, after an absence of over 100 years, decided to participate, making the IRA a true national championship.