Courtesy of IRARowing.com
Commissioner Laura Kunkemueller has announced the teams who have been selected to participate in the 2026 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship regatta. They represent the following institutions:
Automatic Qualifiers
- Mid Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC): Marietta College
- Liberty League: Ithaca College
- New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC): Wesleyan University and Trinity College
- NIRC: Williams College
At-Large Invitations
- Tufts University
- Bates College
- Colby College
About the Regatta
The 2026 IRA regatta will be held at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California and will feature Division III racing on Friday, May 29th and Saturday, May 30th. This will be the 123rd running of the regatta and the fifth consecutive one to host a DIII championship.
About the Competitors
Trinity College comes into the IRA as the reigning DIII Champion following a successful regular season that culminated in a second-place finish at the NIRC. Wesleyan University took the top spot for its second NIRC/NESCAC title in the last three years. Williams rounded up the top three for the final of the three bids coming out of the NIRC. Ithaca College captured the Liberty League AQ after winning its third straight championship, and Marietta College took home the MARC bid to return to the IRA for the third year. Tufts University, Bates College, and Colby College all return to the IRA with at-large bids.
About the Selection Process
This event will be limited to eight entries at the discretion of the Selection/Seeding Committee. If the number of IRA-eligible declarations in the IRA Men’s National Championship Division III Varsity Heavyweight Eight is less than or equal to seven, allocated entries will be awarded, and at-large entries may be awarded up to a limit of six or seven total. If there are more than seven IRA-eligible declarations, allocation of entries will be made as follows:
2026 Regional Qualifying Regattas & Qualifying Entry Allocations
- NESCAC Championship (Currently contested at NIRC) - Top two (2) IRA DIII Eligible Finishers
- MARC Championship - Top IRA DIII Eligible Finisher
- Liberty League Championship - Top IRA DIII Eligible Finisher
- NIRC Championship - Highest NIRC finisher not receiving a NESCAC bid
- At-Large† - Remaining available allocations
† Any entry participating in a qualifying regatta but not qualifying at that regatta, will be considered an At-Large entry. Any unused regional or Conference Automatic allocations will revert to the At-Large pool.
