Men's Rowing Concludes Season at IRA Regatta

Varsity Four Leads Briefly in Semifinal Before Falling to Fourth

June 6, 2010

CAMDEN, NJ - The GW Men's Varsity Four concluded the 2010 season with a very competitive showing at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta, Thursday-Saturday, on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ.

The races began Thursday where the Colonials finished fifth in its heat and were forced to row in the repechage later Thursday in order to qualify for the semifinals. The Colonials won it repechage race, coming from behind to edge Temple by .1 seconds.

Friday, GW raced in the second of two semifinals. The format had the top three finishers of each semifinal advance to the grand final while the 4th through 6th-place finishers compete in the petite finals.

In Friday's semifinal, GW started the race in fifth place early before moving into third. Then, with about 250 meters to go, the Colonials moved into first by less than a boat length ahead of Stanford, Wisconsin and Georgetown. With just 50 meters to go, Wisconsin moved ahead of GW and with just 10 meters to the finish line, Stanford and Georgetown nosed ahead of the Colonials' Four. GW finished in fourth place just .5 seconds behind the winning Wisconsin shell and only .05 seconds behind Georgetown.

"It was a photo finish and the closest races I have ever seen without being a tie," men's head coach Mark Davis said. "It was a very frustrating race for the guys. It was a truly amazing race by our guys they just ended up on the wrong end."

Saturday, GW raced in the petite final where they placed fifth. "We had just run out of gas," Davis said of Saturday's effort.

The University of Washington won the IRA with a total of 193 points, 13 points ahead of runner-up California.

Saturday's race marked the final official competition for GW Athletics for the 2009-10 season.

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