SACRAMENTO – The No. 2 California men's rowing team breezed through its first day at the 2026 IRA National Championship on Lake Natoma in Sacramento on Friday. All three varsity eights won their heats to advance to the AB semifinals on Saturday, while the varsity four posted the fastest time-trial of the morning session before winning its ABC semifinal in the afternoon session to punch its ticket to the Grand Final tomorrow.
 
The varsity eight set the tone for the Golden Bears in their first race of the morning with a comfortable four-second margin over runner-up Dartmouth. Cal jumped out to the front of the field early and held a solid advantage for the entirety of the race, looking composed down the stretch as the boat cruised to the heat victory with a final time of 5:41.650.
 
Cal's 2V8+ battled it out with Syracuse in the Bears' second event of the day. The Bears and the Orange were neck-and-neck through the first 500 meters before Cal began to pull away from Syracuse at the midway point of the race. Cal had a two-second advantage heading into the final sprint and maintained the lead over Syracuse to clinch the heat victory with a final time of 5:45.150.
 
The Bears' 3V8+ kept things rolling to close out Cal's sweep of its varsity eight heats, putting up a final time of 5:52.000. Cal took command of the race early on, pulling out to a five-second advantage over a trailing Penn at the 1000-meter mark. The Quakers made a push in the final sprint to close the gap, but it was not enough to overcome the Bears who finished with nearly a three-second margin of victory.
 
The varsity four came out hot in its time-trial, posting a final time of 6:05.970 – over six and a half seconds quicker than the next-fastest crew – to advance to the ABC semifinal in the afternoon session. The Bears won their ABC semifinal with a time of 6:30.220 – over three and a half seconds faster than Princeton in second place – to clinch a spot in the Grand Final.
 
Cal will return to the waters tomorrow morning beginning at 8:56 a.m. PT. Fans can follow the action via live results on Regatta Timing, or watch it live on Overnght.
 
Saturday Race Schedule (All times PT):
8:56 a.m. – V8+ AB Semifinal: California, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Stanford, Boston, Brown
9:04 a.m. – 2V8+ AB Semifinal: Washington, California, Brown, Northeastern, Yale, Cornell
9:20 a.m. – 3V8+ AB Semifinal: California, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Boston, Stanford
11:30 a.m. – V4+ Grand Final: California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Marist, Harvard
 
RESULTS:
V8+
1. California – 5:41.650
2. Dartmouth – 5:45.760
3. Yale – 5:48.870
4. Columbia – 5:54.260
5. Georgetown – 5:58.100
6. UCSD – 6:06.620
 
2V8+
1. California – 5:45.150
2. Syracuse – 5:47.260
3. Yale – 5:48.990
4. Boston – 5:52.140
5. Georgetown – 6:04.340
6. La Salle – 6:07.230
 
3V8+
1. California – 5:52.000
2. Penn – 5:54.750
3. Northeastern – 5:56.710
4. Navy – 5:58.270
5. Holy Cross – 6:07.860
 
V4+
Time-Trial: 6:05.970
 
ABC Semifinal
1. California – 6:30.220
2. Princeton – 6:34.090
3. Syracuse – 6:39.200
4. Cornell – 6:43.710
5. Colgate – 6:46.910
6. Stetson – 6:49.570
 
LINEUPS:
V8+
Coxswain: Michael Kain
8. Maximilian Pfautsch
7. Tobias Kristensen
6. Pablo Moreno
5. Alexander Baroni
4. Gennaro di Mauro
3. Noah Anger
2. Nemanja Luledzija
1. Tom O'Sullivan
 
2V8+
Coxswain: Ethan Nghiem
8. Leo Rosenquist
7. Eddie Bayfield
6. Osian James
5. Rory Menzies
4. Xavier Gagnon
3. Josh Knight
2. Tim Roth
1. Matthew Waddell
 
3V8+
Coxswain: Austin Chen
8. Mihajlo Dedic
7. Flynn English
6. Dan Bradbery
5. Nat Gauden
4. Evan Gold
3. Jeremy Beale
2. Thomas Heerding
1. James O'Meara
 
V4+
Coxswain: Mackenzie Fox
4. Chris Weiss
3. William McClean
2. Leo Shetler
1. Charlie Warren
 
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's rowing, follow the Bears on X (@CalMrowing), Instagram (@calmrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).