Harvard-Radcliffe Lightweight Rowing Secures Third Place Finish at IRA Nationals

In a fitting end for the historically successful Harvard-Radcliffe lightweight rowers, the Black and White concluded its 2025-2026 campaign with bronze honors at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship on the pristine waters of Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.

All of Harvard-Radcliffe’s boats advanced to Sunday’s final rounds, in which the V8+ narrowly edged out Stanford for second place in the intensely competitive field of six boats.

Stroked by sophomore Keira Mariko Dwan and steered by freshman Stella Sweitzer, the No. 2 V2+ battled hard against the No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Madison in Sunday’s final, but ultimately fell to the Badgers’ last charge, taking home the bronze medal.

As gorgeous as Lake Natoma may have been for the spectators, its stillness served more as resistance for the rowers, marking a significant change for the Black and White compared to the familiar waves of the Charles River or the Cooper River in Camden, NJ. — the host site for IRA Nationals in 2025. Last year, Harvard-Radcliffe earned a second-place team finish with 59 points, and Boston University (BU) rowed close behind with 57 team points to claim third.

This year, however, the two neighbors across the Charles traded places on the podium as BU secured second place with 61 points and the Black and White earned 59 points to bring home third.

Yet what didn’t change from last year was the team in orange and black atop the podium as the Princeton Tigers stood victorious, earning 67 points in both national championships.

Accustomed to rowing on the man-made and competitively tailored Lake Carnegie, Princeton looked comfortable at the IRA Nationals and on Lake Natoma.

Having just beaten the Tigers’ V8+ a few weeks prior to bring the Class of 1999 Cup back to Cambridge, Harvard-Radcliffe had a target on its back going into the 51st Annual Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass., on May 3.

Princeton quickly stepped up to the challenge, besting the Black and White with a two-second margin in Worcester to put all the attention back on the V8+ at nationals.

Simply stated, the V8+ did not disappoint.

Saturday’s scores left audiences no clearer about which Ivy squad would emerge victorious, with No. 1 Princeton and No. 2 Harvard-Radcliffe both winning their heats by significant margins, posting times of 6:44.36 and 6:45.31, respectively.

Just under a second differentiated the two Ancient Eight powerhouses with Sunday morning’s race being primed to make clear a divided head-to-head record that has flowed back and forth throughout the season.

As the V8+ boats launched, with Princeton in lane one and Harvard-Radcliffe in lane two, the racing quickly shifted from the Black and White competing with the Tigers for gold to fending off No. 4 Stanford, which inched towards Harvard-Radcliffe.

With clear water in front of it and resounding cheers of fans along the lake’s shore in the last 250m, Princeton rowed defensively while the Black and White rowed desperately.

A full shell length ahead, the Tigers crossed the finish line with a time of 6:40.493, a whole four seconds better than their Saturday preliminary time and Harvard-Radcliffe’s finals time of 6:44.002.

That being said, the Black and White held off the Cardinal down the stretch, as Stanford finished in third with a time of 6:46.085.

Although second place at Nationals is nothing to scoff at, Harvard-Radcliffe is undoubtedly aware that Princeton stood in the way of its victory and is looking ahead to next fall.

While the Black and White avoided the Tigers’ challenge in the V2+, No. 1 BU and No. 3 Wisconsin finished well ahead of No. 2 Harvard-Radcliffe in what was anticipated to be a much tighter final.

The Black and Whites’ preliminary V2+ result of 7:48.80 edged out Wisconsin (7:49.04) by just 0.24 seconds in Heat Two, while BU trailed comparatively but still won Heat One, clocking a 7:49.71.

Once again, the preliminaries indicated under a second of difference between the frontrunners, yet the waters weren’t nearly as friendly for the Black and White on Sunday morning.

Despite its better preliminary time, Harvard-Radcliffe rowed in lane two, surrounded by BU in lane one and No. 5 Princeton in lane three, with challengers Wisconsin in lane four.

Following the first 500 meters, it seemed the Black and White was keeping close pace with BU, holding the Terriers’ lead to just under a deck length of space.

Having won V2+ nationals last year, BU senior Catherine Clark looked to defend her title, now with accomplished junior Emilia Vukasinovic as stroke.

By 1000m, the Terriers had begun to pull away from the Black and White and the Badgers, while Wisconsin narrowly led Harvard going into the second half of racing.

Just past the halfway point, there was little to no doubt of what BU had in store, as Clark’s experience proved decisive in claiming (07:36.678) victory in the event, outpacing Wisconsin (07:43.838) by 7.16 seconds and its 2025 result (07:37.350) by just under a second as well.

The V2+ final was especially notable as BU had rowed faster on the still waters of Lake Natoma than on the Cooper River’s waves, and as there was a new team making a stand on the podium: Harvard-Radcliffe.

Just last year, the Black and White didn’t even qualify for the V2+ final, and now it fought its way to earn a time of 07:49.867 and third-place honors.

With the Black and White’s roster having deepened extensively, including the key additions of Sweitzer in the V2+ and walk-on freshman Louisa Carter, Harvard-Radcliffe was able to make its valiant run at nationals this year. Having a sophomore and a freshman securing a bronze leaves nothing but optimism for how the V2+ boat can improve in the years to come.

The V4+ boat, despite falling in the standings compared to last year’s national (third place) with its fifth-place finish this year, shares in the optimism of V2+ with all of its rowers eligible to return next year.

With No.2 BU’s seven-second margin over No. 3 Harvard-Radcliffe in Heat Two, it became evidently clear that the Terriers would be the Charles River school to try and challenge reigning champions No. 1 Princeton for V4+ gold.

Harvard-Radcliffe’s heat time of 07:44.410 ranked fourth across preliminary round results, which narrowly bested the No. 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (07:45.30). The Black and White soundly defeated the Engineers earlier this season in April’s Beanpot race.

Only when the racing was said and done, MIT had the last laugh as the Engineers fended off No. 5 Wisconsin and Harvard-Radcliffe to bring third place home to East Cambridge.

Despite being within just a few seconds of Wisconsin throughout the race, the Black and White could not capitalize on the sprint sequence of the last 250m, finishing 07:37.186, trailing three seconds behind the Badgers and six seconds behind the Engineers.

Princeton gapped second-place BU by a boat and a half by the end of the race to preserve its championship in the V4+ and put the pressure back on the Charles River trio to find a challenger next year.

With silver and bronze on Lake Natoma, third-place Harvard-Radcliffe will look to display its even further trained and rejuvenated roster on the Charles next October during the highly anticipated 61st Head of the Charles Regatta.