Princeton’s rowing teams finished the year with a strong day at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Nationals on Mercer Lake in nearby West Windsor, N.J., May 31. All three of the programs competing — the men’s heavyweights, men’s lightweights, and women’s lightweights — reached their varsity eight grand finals, and the men’s heavyweights finished third, a fraction of a second behind second-place California, to earn their first trip to the IRA podium since 2006.
Two weeks earlier at the Eastern Sprints, the men’s heavyweight program captured the combined team-points title, and the Tigers cemented their reputation by earning the best finishes among Eastern schools in the top two events, the varsity eight and the second-varsity eight.
The men’s lightweights placed fourth in the varsity eight, one spot below their Eastern Sprints finish, and won gold in the lightweight four without coxswain, outpacing Cornell by 1.4 seconds.
In the women’s lightweight varsity eight, Princeton finished fourth, four seconds behind champion Stanford. The Tigers placed third in the women’s lightweight four.
The women’s open crew traveled to the NCAA Championships at Lake Natoma, near Sacramento, Calif., May 29–31. Princeton’s varsity four reached the grand final, placing sixth, and the Tigers finished 12th in the overall team standings.