Men's Rowing to Send Four Crews to IRA Nationals
5/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Rowing
May 25, 2006
CENTERVILLE, MA -- The GW men's rowing team will be sending four crews to compete in the 104th Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, June 1-3, on the Cooper RIver in Camden, NJ. A total of 198 crews from schools across the country will converge in Southern New Jersey next week for the famed collegiate rowing event.
The Colonials will compete in the Varsity Eight, Freshman Eight, Freshman Four, and Open Four, making this year's GW championship squad the largest in school history. This marks the first time since 1997 that GW will be racing a varsity eight at the IRA, the regatta's premier event, which is limited to a field of 24 boats.
"I'm thrilled to have gotten bids for the varsity eight and freshman eight races, not to mention the freshman and open fours," GW head coach Greg Myhr said. "We haven't raced a freshman eight at this event since 2002, and this is the first time in nine years that we've fielded a varsity eight at the national championship. I told the team at the beginning of the fall that it would take an extraordinary effort this year to be awarded an entry in the varsity eight at the IRA. We've had our ups and downs this spring, but the guys worked very hard and I think just managed to slip in under the wire. While this competition will be an uphill battle, we now get a direct chance to see how we stack up against all of the top teams in the country, which is what we've worked for all year."