UW Crew
5 crews ready for IRA regatta

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The Washington men's rowing team will compete in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships beginning today in Camden, N.J.

Five crews will represent the Huskies, who have entries in the varsity eights, junior-varsity eights, freshman eights, varsity fours and varsity pairs, in the 102nd IRA regatta which runs through Saturday on Cooper River. Washington's varsity four won the national title last year, while the varsity and junior-varsity eights collected silver medals.

Defending champion Harvard is the top seeded varsity eight and Washington is No. 2. The Crimson and Huskies are also Nos. 1 and 2 in the junior-varsity seedings. The Huskies are aiming for their 12th IRA varsity eight title. Washington's most recent varsity eight championship came in 1997, the same season the Huskies capped their last run of consecutive Pac-10 titles. UW crews won Pac-10 titles on May 16 in the varsity eight, junior-varsity eight and varsity four events.

Competition at the IRA regatta consists of heats, repechage (second chance), semifinals and finals. The repechage race assures the three fastest crews advance to the semifinal round. The winners of each of the four first-day heats advance to the semifinal round while the remaining crews are reassigned to repechage races. The top two finishers in each repechage also advance to the semifinals, rounding out the 12-crew field. The top three crews in each semifinal advance into the six-boat grand final field.

Other schools competing at the IRA regatta are: California, Princeton, Navy, Northeastern, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Cornell and Brown.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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