In sunny Golden River, Calif., teams from across the nation competed in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s National Championship races.
Stopping the clock at 6:40.12, Penn’s best showing of the competition came in Saturday’s 4V+ competition, where the Red and Blue’s boat — comprised of rising seniors Ethan Xia and Aden Anderson, rising junior coxswain Daya Allon, and rising sophomores Campbell Cohen and Henry Alston — secured the gold in a tight finish against the Harvard Crimson.
This was not only the first time in Penn history that the Quakers secured the IRA Lightweight 4V+ title, but the first time in University history that a crew won an event at the IRA Regatta. The 4V+ title was a key contributor to Penn’s podium finish, as the program earned a bronze medal after scoring 40.5 points on the regatta.
The team’s competition was rounded out by the Quaker 2V8 crew, which finished in 5:55.245 for second in their grand final. The 2V8s only trailed eventual victor Harvard by about 1.5 seconds. The 2V8 crew — composed of three recent graduates, two rising seniors, and four rising juniors — was led by rising senior Gianna Lodato as coxswain, rising junior Matthieu Bouchard in the stroke seat, and 2026 Engineering graduate Ian Holly in the bow. The 1V8 crew also made it to their grand final, finishing fifth in 5:52.100.
The first day of races started strong, with both the lightweight 2V8 and V4A crews winning their respective heats, while the 1V8 claimed second — securing a shot for the title for all three boats in Sunday’s final. On the heavyweight side, all crews placed in the top three in their heats, sending the V8 crews to the semifinals and the 4VA to the grand final.
On day two, the heavyweight V4+ crew fought their way through tough competition to secure second, trailing University of California, Berkeley by 2.95 seconds. The Quakers’ 1V8 and 3V8 crews rounded out the heavyweight competition with a first- and second-place finish in each of their respective petite finals. The 2V8 didn’t fare as well, placing fourth in its petite final ahead of Cornell and Dartmouth.
Penn’s heavyweight crew finished the competition in 10th place after scoring 201 points, beating out conference opponents Cornell and Columbia. Princeton and Harvard went on to claim second and third place, respectively, while the University of Washington took home the team title with a score of 284 points.
The IRAs marked the end of both the lightweight and heavyweight teams’ respective seasons. The Quakers will start the 2026-27 season in October with their fall races.
