 | |
| Abbreviation | IRA |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Association |
| Website | IRA official website |
The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's open weight rowing.[1] It is the direct successor to the Rowing Association of American Colleges, the first collegiate athletic organization in the United States,[2] which operated from 1870–1894.
The IRA was founded by Cornell, Columbia, and Penn in 1894 and its first annual regatta was hosted on June 24, 1895. Today Navy and Syracuse are also part of the association. Each year these five schools choose whom to invite to the IRA National Championship Regatta and are responsible for its organization.
The IRA runs the IRA National Championship Regatta, which since 1895 has been considered to be the United States collegiate national championship of men's rowing. This regatta today includes both men's and women's (lightweight) events for 8- and 4-oared sweep boats with coxswains and a women's lightweight double scull (two-oars for each rower) event.
The IRA National Championship is the oldest college rowing championship in the United States.
- ^ http://www.row2k.com/ira/2012/05182012IRA110thInvitationandEntry.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Rowing Association of American Colleges". Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2009-12-16.