About the IRA Fours Race
Steve Kish was kind enough to explain how the lightweight four event at the IRA came into being and how the invitees were selected for this year's exhibition race:
CRCA Lightweight Committee met over the winter and one of the initiatives that came of its meeting was the goal of increasing participation in the lightweight eight at the IRA. In addition to encouraging the eights to attend (good to see LMU and Long Beach coming this year), the thought was to also encourage programs that are still developing and perhaps racing the lightweight four, in the hopes that the experience would lead those programs to put together an eight for the next year. It is not meant to be exclusive nor do we think it is the perfect system and I am sure there are plenty of ways to look at the idea and poke holes in it. Long of the short is that a number of programs who have never raced at the IRA will be there this year. We’ll see where it goes from there.
It took a while to get the idea off the ground and definitely on the program. Very happy that the IRA (Gary Caldwell) was supportive and the CRCA lwt committee is very happy that they agreed, as are all the coaches I have been in contact with. It is an exhibition and we’ll see how it goes. It is a six boat straight final on Friday afternoon.
The initial idea was to invite the gold medalists from the A-10, WIRA, SIRA and Dad Vail. The other two spots were to be filled by the top lwt eights programs based on their finish from the previous IRA. So, that is Wisconsin and Georgetown .
Duquesne accepted the invite. LMU is coming in the eight, not in the four. Georgia could not accept as a result of scheduling conflicts. And Pitt is still working on their scheduling conflicts but we hope they will be able to come. The scheduling conflicts are a result of me not getting the word out soon enough. Hopefully, if all runs well this year, it will be something that everyone will be aware of right from the start next year.
Without the WIRA champ available as they are coming in the eight, the next idea was to invite the WIRA silver, but that is Long Beach and they are also coming in an eight. The decision was then made to simply find the most competitive non-IRA program and invite it. So the next one on the list was from the Dad Vail, and that is Lawrence . They have accepted. Brock was considered but the IRA would like to keep the regatta as a US championship, as is the general IRA as well as the NCAA, etc.
So, the sixth spot has been filled by Radcliffe, as they were third at last year’s IRA.
Stanford made a case for their four which won the PCRC’s. But, again, based on the spirit of what we were trying to do, it didn’t make sense to bring a VL4 from Stanford, when Stanford is also rowing a lwt eight. Radcliffe on the other hand, is being invited based on last year’s finish, similar to Wisconsin and Georgetown .
So, currently it is Duquesne, Lawrence , Wisconsin , Georgetown , Radcliffe and hopefully Pitt.
10 comments:
Pitt will not be going to the IRA.
anyone who the replacement will likely be?
I just want to say that I am so happy that the IRA is trying out the light 4 this year. I kept on dreaming through my college days that one day my team would have 8 lightweights so that we would have a sliver of hope at going to IRA. We've never had 8 lightweights. It excited me so much to hear that there is a 4. Now I'm graduated, so there's no hope for me, but I'm really excited at the idea that my girls will have a shot at it in the future.
What is exactly meant by it being an exhibition race?
Stanford should have been invited as they are still a developing program.
If the purpose is development, why would Wisco be there? Aren't Georgetown and Radcliffe racing the eight, as well?
It would have been nice to include a west coast four.
. . .and another thing. Wisconsin, Radcliffe and Georgetown raced 3 different lightweight eights at Sprints! Those programs are clearly not in the development stage.
Give Stanford a chance. Besides, they host Windermere. They should be shown some love.
UCF should get a chance to race a 4 since they are in a rebuilding period...
It seems clear the only teams not building or rebuilding (based on numbers) are Princeton, Harvard, Wisco, Georgetown. Does anyone else have two (or three) eights? I am curious what is the smallest team size that has produced a winning lightweight 8. Is the second 8 necessary for the first 8 to be fast? Opinions?
Given the basic idea of the event, and the reasoning behind not inviting Stanford, I don't get why the 2 powerhouse 8 teams from last year are automatically invited. Clearly neither of these teams are still developing.
yeah, i agree. it's weird that the light 4 field is being comprised based on two very different sets of criteria. So it's good to be in a big program and its good to be in a small program. whys the man always gotta beat down the middle class?
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