HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College men's rowing team has been selected for the first-ever Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Division III National Championship Regatta during the first weekend in June. The two-day Division III portion of the regatta will take place on Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. Trinity men's rowing, coached by Kevin MacDermott (13th Season), finished 3-1 in dual racing, placed sixth in the New England Rowing Championship (NERC) Regatta, and eighth in the National Invitational Rowing Championship (NIRC) Regatta this spring.
The IRA National Championship is the oldest college rowing championship in the United States. Seven varsity eights were selected to the inaugural Division III event, including three automatic bids, a slot for teams without access to automatic bids, and three at-large selections. Williams, the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Champion, Bates and Washington College earned the automatic bids while Trinity, Hamilton, Tufts, and Worcester Tech earned at-large bids. On Friday at 9:50 a.m., the seven Division III crews will race for lane placement, which has proven to be a major factor in the outcomes of the finals, in the championship the next day. The Bantams were fourth among NESCAC teams in the NIRC Regatta and are ranked No. 4 nationally, while Trinity will be in the sixth lane on Friday with a chance to improve on that for Saturday.
"The ultimate goal for all college rowing programs is to compete for the IRA Championship and for the first time we are racing against all Division III boats," said MacDermott. "I am so proud that we are in this position. It took tremendous growth for this group to get to this point when I think about how strong of a class we graduated in 2021. It took the entire season of developing and improving and it is because of the team's commitment, leadership, and work ethic that we can now compete for a medal on the grandest stage of college rowing."
Trinity's lineup for the IRA Championship races includes senior captain Tyler Brennan (Norwalk, Conn.), seniors Nicholas Filosa (New York, N.Y.), Nicholas Roll (Pelham Manor, N.Y.), and Alex Sowinski (Unionville, N.Y.), juniors Chad Obrey Jr. (Pawcatuck, Conn.) and Quin Woods (Lincoln, Neb.), first-years Jack Carr (Wellesley, Mass.) and Matthew Mitchell (St. Andrew's, Del.) and first-year coxswain Caoilinn Gormley (West Newton, Mass.). Filosa is a two-time All-NESCAC honoree, while Obrey was also all-conference this spring, and both Brennan and Roll were 2021 All-NESCAC oarsmen.
