The No. 1-ranked Washington men’s rowing team advanced all three of its eights to the grand finals at the 2026 IRA Championship Regatta at Lake Natoma, according to a May 30 announcement. The varsity four finished fourth in its national championship grand final, which concluded on Saturday.
Washington won its semifinals in both the first and second varsity eights and took second place in the third varsity eight semifinal, securing spots for all three boats in Sunday’s finals. The Huskies were one of four programs—alongside California, Harvard, and Princeton—to qualify for every heavyweight grand final. Washington is also noted as the two-time defending champion in both the varsity and second varsity eights.
In Saturday’s first varsity eight semifinal, Washington edged out Princeton by less than a second with a time of 5:37.58; Dartmouth finished third as all three moved on to Sunday’s final. In their second varsity eight race, Washington overtook early leaders Yale and held off California to win with a time of 5:45.420; Brown narrowly beat Yale for third place by two hundredths of a second.
The third varsity eight saw Washington lead through much of the race before Harvard surged ahead late to win by less than three-tenths of a second; Yale secured the last qualifying spot for Sunday’s final.
Saturday concluded with the grand final for the varsity four event, where California took gold in 6:27.66. Penn earned silver about three seconds behind Cal, followed closely by Harvard for bronze; Washington finished fourth.
Sunday’s schedule features championship races beginning at 9:46 a.m., including all three UW eights competing for national titles.
