MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The defending national champion Wesleyan men's crew team will be back to defend its title as the Cardinals earned an at-large bid into the 2025 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship.
The Cardinals join seven other schools – Williams, Tufts, Colby, Trinity, Bates, Ithaca, and Marietta – in the 2025 IRA D3 National Championship field. The 2025 IRA regatta will be held on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey from Friday, May 30
th to Saturday, May 31
st. This is the 122
nd running of the regatta and the fourth consecutive one to host a D3 championship.
A year removed from making history, becoming just the third team in school history to win a national championship, the Cardinals are back in the IRA National Championship following a successful spring campaign. Wesleyan opened the 2025 spring season with a clean sweep, featuring wins from all four boats against a Coast Guard team ranked No. 5 nationally back on March 29. Wesleyan again swept all four races to retain the Class of 2003 Cup for the third straight season before the varsity 8 suffered its first defeat since 2023 with a runner-up finish to Williams at the Little Three Championships.
The Cardinals rebounded with a great showing at the New England Championships, with the V8 finished second overall out of 14 boats, finishing behind only Trinity and ahead of third place Bates by more than three seconds. Most-recently, the Cardinals claimed a fourth place finish in the points standings at the National Invitational Rowing Championships with the V8 placing sixth while the 3
rd varsity 8 won the grand final and the 2V8 finished in third place in their respective competitions.
This is Wesleyan's third all-time appearance at the IRA D3 National Championship, having missed out on qualifying in the inaugural IRA regatta but have since made three consecutive appearances, finishing as the runner-up in 2023 and champion in 2024.
