LAKE WINDSOR, N.J.—The Columbia Lightweight Rowing program claimed its third national title since 2016 as the Lions won the First Varsity Eight championship race by two seconds and also took home the All-Points Trophy Sunday at the 119
th annual Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta held at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
Under Head Coach
Nich Lee Parker, the Columbia Lightweight program has now claimed national titles in 2016, 2018, and 2022.
Racing in lane three, Columbia jumped out to a quick start in the race with a two-second lead after the first 500-meters. The Lions continued to maintain their lead the rest of the way in holding off favorite Navy by two full seconds. Columbia crossed the finish line in 5:56.348, which set off a joyous victory celebration in the water. Navy took second in 5:58.306, Georgetown took third place (5:58.942), Yale finished fourth (6:01.374), Cornell in fifth (6:03.112), and Princeton sixth (6:06.758).
"It was a matter of putting together our best race with our fastest rowers in the boat and all training together," Columbia Lightweight Head Coach
Nich Lee Parker said. "The last two weeks that we've been together, all three of our crews have been training at 100 percent. It all worked out as we delivered the best race we could have had. We changed our training to get up and go and to hit the line quickly with a lot of reps. We pushed them as hard as we could, then dialed it in with a good taper to help them feel ready on race day."
"We build and prepare all year for this. The key was to do it on race day."
The underdog Columbia Lightweights entered the weekend as the No. 6 ranked team in the nation in the final IRA Lightweight poll (May 4) and were ranked as low as No. 8 during the year. In addition, Columbia's First Varsity Eight team was coming off a sixth place finish at the EARC Sprints two weeks ago. But none of that mattered on Sunday as the Lions overturned all results with a national title.
Taking the title for Columbia were stroke
Alexandros Zisimidis,
John Gallagher,
Jackson Gallagher,
Michael Ritter, Stone Walker,
Michael Keane,
Rye Walker,
Gil Dexter, and Coxswain
Caiti Levin. Zisimidis became just the third rower in program history to win two national championships at the Varsity Eight level. He joins Ben Landis and Jenson Carlgren as the other two rowers to achieve that honor. Ritter joined the boat after EARC Sprints and Parker switched the sides of two rowers prior to this weekend.
"I knew that we had the speed to win, but being able to put all the pieces together on race day is the challenge," Parker said. "These guys did a lot of work and we didn't know if it was going to happen or not. It all came down to our rowers. Over the last two weeks, our alumni support allowed us to do a few things in our training and the heavyweight and women's teams also helped along the way. This is a win that should be celebrated by the entire Columbia Rowing program.
The All Points trophy was earned after winning a tiebreaker, which was decided by the First Varsity Eight's championship. Columbia experienced all-around success as all three Lightweight boats advanced to the Grand Finals and placed among the top-4 national finishers as the Lions completed a tremendous weekend.
"Winning the All Points Trophy shows the depth of our program," Parker said. "All of our crews were able to advance to the finals, along with Cornell and Navy. I'm really proud of our team effort and I am proud that we have been able to create a team that is both fast and deep. Our fourth place finish in the fours and third place finish in the Second Varsity is what won us that trophy."
Columbia's Second Varsity Eight boat concluded the weekend with a third place Bronze medal finish in its Grand Final on Sunday, clocking a 6:09.674 race. The Lions defeated Yale, Penn, Princeton, and Georgetown in the final by maintaining second and third place throughout the race. Comprising Columbia's Second Varsity Eight boat includes Stroke
Curtis Alter, Bow Will West, Aiden Mahaffey,
Jake Duffy,
Pedro Santos,
Jack Hartman,
Alex Kosarek,
Sam Gregoire, and Coxswain
Grace Paterson.
In Saturday's Lightweight Four Grand Final, the Lions registered a fourth place out of seven with a 6:27.719 time. In a tight race separating the top-4 teams by just four seconds, the Lions defeated both Marietta and Cornell and finished just four seconds behind winner Navy and less than a second behind third place Navy. En route to the final, the Lions started the weekend off with a seventh place showing in the time trials (6:22:200), then advanced to the final with a third place finish in the semifinals (6:23.607). Comprising Columbia's Lightweight Four boat includes Stroke Sam Zimbel,
Brendan Burbage,
Reese Gregory,
Arnav Sawhney, and Coxswain
Simon Osak.
Complete Columbia results from the weekend are listed below.
COLUMBIA'S SUNDAY IRA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Saturday, June 5, 2022 | Lake Windsor, N.J. | Mercer Lake
(in order of events)
Second Varsity 8 Lightweight Grand Final (9:40 a.m.)
3
rd place out of 7, 6:09.674, BRONZE MEDAL
First Varsity 8 Lightweight Grand Final (10:30 a.m.)
1
st place out of 6, 5:56.348, NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
COLUMBIA'S SATURDAY IRA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Saturday, June 4, 2022 | Lake Windsor, N.J. | Mercer Lake
(in order of events)
Lightweight Four Grand Final (11:20 a.m.)
4
th place out of 6, 6:27.179
COLUMBIA'S FRIDAY IRA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Friday, June 3, 2022 | Lake Windsor, N.J. | Mercer Lake
(In order of events)
Second Varsity 8 Lightweight Heat One (8 a.m.)
3
rd place out of 7, 6:08.657
First Varsity 8 Lightweight Heat Two (9 a.m.)
2
nd place out of 4, 5:44.996, Columbia advances to Final A
Varsity Lightweight Four (11:20 a.m.)
7
th place time out of 14 in time trial, 6:22.200, all boats advance to Semifinal AB
Varsity Lightweight Four Semifinal AB (4:30 p.m.)
3
rd place out of 7, 6:23.607, Columbia advances to Grand Final, remainder to C Final, top-3 in Semi DE to Final D
PROJECTED COLUMBIA LIGHTWEIGHT BOATINGS
For IRA National Championship | Friday-Sunday, June, 3-5, 2022 | Lake Windsor, N.J. | Mercer Lake
First Varsity Eight
Stroke-
Rye Walker, Bow-
Jackson Gallagher, 2-Jack Gallagher, 3-Stone Walker, 4-
Gil Dexter, 5-
Michael Ritter, 6-
Alexandros Zisimidis, 7-
Michael Keane, Coxswain-
Caiti Levin
Second Varsity Eight
Stroke-
Curtis Alter, Bow-Will West, 2-Aiden Mahaffey, 3-
Jake Duffy, 4-
Pedro Santos, 5-
Jack Hartman, 6-
Alex Kosarek, 7-
Sam Gregoire, Coxswain-
Grace Paterson
Varsity Four
Stroke- Sam Zimbel,
Brendan Burbage,
Reese Gregory,
Arnav Sawhney, Coxswain-
Simon Osak
