BERKELEY – The No. 4 California men's rowing team is currently out east as it prepares to defend its back-to-back titles at the IRA national championship regatta, which takes place Friday-Sunday at Mercer Lake in New Jersey. The Golden Bears will race their top three varsity eight boats along with its varsity four.
 
All races will be streamed here and results will be posted here.
 
The last time the Bears won three national titles in a row was in 1999-02 when they won four straight. Last year's national championship marked the program's 19th overall – tied for second most in the country. Not only did the Bears win the title, but they also took first place in all four events for the first time in program history. In doing so, the program won the James Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy, which is given to the school with the most points among its top three varsity eights.
 
"We can't control anybody else's speed," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "All we can do is keep it internal and work and concern ourselves with how fast we can be from point A to point B."
 
Cal is heading into the IRAs off a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships at Lake Natoma in Gold River earlier this month. The Bears' first varsity eight boat features three recently announced All-Pac-12 rowers in Alexander Baroni, Wilson Morton and coxswain Luca Vieira and has notched dual wins over then-No. 7 Syracuse, No. 12 Stanford, No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 18 La Salle this season.
 
"The training has all progressed really well as we've finalized and solidified crews," Frandsen said. "During these last four or five days of final prep, the crews have gelled really well through that process. Now everyone is sort of tapering and feeling that energy and just getting excited to race."
 
The IRA Championships use a three-day format for the eights, with Friday serving as heats and repechages races, semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday. The grand finals for the varsity 4+ take place on Saturday, with both the time trials and semifinals occurring on Friday.
 
Complete Schedule (all times EDT)
 
Friday, May 31 (Heats and time trials)
 
8:40 a.m. – V8+ heat 4
Lanes 1-6: UCSD, Cornell, Cal (3), Yale, Stanford, Oregon State
 
9:30 a.m. – 2V8+ heat 3
Lanes 1-6: Drexel, Boston, Cal (3), Syracuse, Stanford, Santa Clara
 
10:20 a.m. – 3V8+ heat 4
Lanes 2-5: Navy, Cal (3), Yale, Pennsylvania
 
11:40 a.m. – V4+ time trials
 
Saturday, June 1 (Eights A/B semifinals; Four grand final)
 
8:50 a.m. and 9 a.m. – V8+ A/B semifinals heats 1 and 2
9:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. – 2V8+ A/B semifinals heats 1 and 2
9:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. – 3V8+ A/B semifinals
9:50 a.m. and 10 a.m. – V8+ A/B semifinals heats 3 and 4
10:10 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. – 2V8+ semifinals heats 3 and 4
11:20 a.m. – V4+ Petite Final
11:50 a.m. – V4+ Grand Final
 
Sunday, June 2 (Eights finals)
 
9:40 a.m. – 3V8+ Grand Final
10:10 a.m. – 2V8+ Grand Final
11 a.m. – V8+ Grand Final

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