{"id":339290,"date":"2026-05-30T17:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/339290\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T17:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:38:26","slug":"bears-breeze-through-first-day-of-ira-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/339290\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Breeze Through First Day Of IRA Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bears <\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnhtuan Hong \/ KLC fotos \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bears sweep their varsity eight heats on first day of championship regatta.<\/p>\n

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MROW5\/29\/2026 4:59 PM | By: Cal Athletics<\/p>\n


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Cal Advances All Varsity Eights To AB Semifinals, Varsity Four To Grand Final<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO \u2013 The No. 2 California men’s rowing team breezed through its first day at the 2026 IRA National Championship on Lake Natoma in Sacramento on Friday. All three varsity eights won their heats to advance to the AB semifinals on Saturday, while the varsity four posted the fastest time-trial of the morning session before winning its ABC semifinal in the afternoon session to punch its ticket to the Grand Final tomorrow.
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\nThe varsity eight set the tone for the Golden Bears in their first race of the morning with a comfortable four-second margin over runner-up Dartmouth. Cal jumped out to the front of the field early and held a solid advantage for the entirety of the race, looking composed down the stretch as the boat cruised to the heat victory with a final time of 5:41.650.
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\nCal’s 2V8+ battled it out with Syracuse in the Bears’ second event of the day. The Bears and the Orange were neck-and-neck through the first 500 meters before Cal began to pull away from Syracuse at the midway point of the race. Cal had a two-second advantage heading into the final sprint and maintained the lead over Syracuse to clinch the heat victory with a final time of 5:45.150.
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\nThe Bears’ 3V8+ kept things rolling to close out Cal’s sweep of its varsity eight heats, putting up a final time of 5:52.000. Cal took command of the race early on, pulling out to a five-second advantage over a trailing Penn at the 1000-meter mark. The Quakers made a push in the final sprint to close the gap, but it was not enough to overcome the Bears who finished with nearly a three-second margin of victory.
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\nThe varsity four came out hot in its time-trial, posting a final time of 6:05.970 \u2013 over six and a half seconds quicker than the next-fastest crew \u2013 to advance to the ABC semifinal in the afternoon session. The Bears won their ABC semifinal with a time of 6:30.220 \u2013 over three and a half seconds faster than Princeton in second place \u2013 to clinch a spot in the Grand Final.
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\nCal will return to the waters tomorrow morning beginning at 8:56 a.m. PT. Fans can follow the action via live results on Regatta Timing,<\/a> or watch it live on Overnght.<\/a>
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\nSaturday Race Schedule (All times PT):
\n8:56 a.m. \u2013 V8+ AB Semifinal: California, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Boston, Brown
\n9:04 a.m. \u2013 2V8+ AB Semifinal: Washington, California, Brown, Northeastern, Yale, Cornell
\n9:20 a.m. \u2013 3V8+ AB Semifinal: California, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Boston, Stanford
\n11:30 a.m. \u2013 V4+ Grand Final: California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Marist, Harvard
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\nRESULTS:
\nV8+
\n1. California \u2013 5:41.650
\n2. Dartmouth \u2013 5:45.760
\n3. Yale \u2013 5:48.870
\n4. Columbia \u2013 5:54.260
\n5. Georgetown \u2013 5:58.100
\n6. UCSD \u2013 6:06.620
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\n2V8+
\n1. California \u2013 5:45.150
\n2. Syracuse \u2013 5:47.260
\n3. Yale \u2013 5:48.990
\n4. Boston \u2013 5:52.140
\n5. Georgetown \u2013 6:04.340
\n6. La Salle \u2013 6:07.230
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\n3V8+
\n1. California \u2013 5:52.000
\n2. Penn \u2013 5:54.750
\n3. Northeastern \u2013 5:56.710
\n4. Navy \u2013 5:58.270
\n5. Holy Cross \u2013 6:07.860
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\nV4+
\nTime-Trial: 6:05.970
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\nABC Semifinal
\n1. California \u2013 6:30.220
\n2. Princeton \u2013 6:34.090
\n3. Syracuse \u2013 6:39.200
\n4. Cornell \u2013 6:43.710
\n5. Colgate \u2013 6:46.910
\n6. Stetson \u2013 6:49.570
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\nLINEUPS:
\nV8+
\nCoxswain: Michael Kain<\/a>
\n8. Maximilian Pfautsch<\/a>
\n7. Tobias Kristensen<\/a>
\n6. Pablo Moreno<\/a>
\n5. Alexander Baroni<\/a>
\n4. Gennaro di Mauro<\/a>
\n3. Noah Anger<\/a>
\n2. Nemanja Luledzija<\/a>
\n1. Tom O’Sullivan<\/a>
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\n2V8+
\nCoxswain: Ethan Nghiem<\/a>
\n8. Leo Rosenquist<\/a>
\n7. Eddie Bayfield<\/a>
\n6. Osian James<\/a>
\n5. Rory Menzies<\/a>
\n4. Xavier Gagnon<\/a>
\n3. Josh Knight<\/a>
\n2. Tim Roth<\/a>
\n1. Matthew Waddell<\/a>
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\n3V8+
\nCoxswain: Austin Chen<\/a>
\n8. Mihajlo Dedic<\/a>
\n7. Flynn English<\/a>
\n6. Dan Bradbery<\/a>
\n5. Nat Gauden<\/a>
\n4. Evan Gold<\/a>
\n3. Jeremy Beale<\/a>
\n2. Thomas Heerding<\/a>
\n1. James O’Meara<\/a>
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\nV4+
\nCoxswain: Mackenzie Fox<\/a>
\n4. Chris Weiss<\/a>
\n3. William McClean<\/a>
\n2. Leo Shetler<\/a>
\n1. Charlie Warren<\/a>
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\nSTAY POSTED
\nFor further coverage of Cal men’s rowing, follow the Bears on X (@CalMrowing<\/a>), Instagram (@calmrowing<\/a>) and Facebook (Cal Crew<\/a>).
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