By Edward Hewitt, Globe Correspondent, 6/5/2004

CAMDEN, N.J. -- "You know it's the IRA when you look at your semi draw and think, `Whoa . . .' And then you look at the other semi draw and you think, `Whoa . . .' "

That was the assessment of one coach at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta yesterday, and it held true all day; especially if the Harvard varsity was in your semifinal. In yesterday's semifinal, the Harvard crew was clear of the field with 500 meters to go, and settled down to a race cadence of 32.5 strokes per minute, which is more suited to long-distance training than the all-out 2,000-meter distance of sprint racing.As Harvard breezed over the finish line, the race behind it for the two remaining qualifying spots turned fierce as Princeton and Yale charged up on Cal. Cal held on, and Princeton nipped Yale by a half-second to claim the third spot in today's Grand final. In the other semi, Washington, Navy, and Dartmouth advanced. Northeastern placed fourth and will row in the petite final today. Harvard coach Harry Parker said his crew had rowed better in the Thursday heats.

"It was a solid row, but they were a little bit off," he said, conceding the crew has not yet been pushed over the full distance.

Nonetheless, Parker is confident the crew has an extra gear. "We've seen it in practice. It's different in the race, but if called upon, I believe the crew is capable of producing a strong finish."

Parker expects the toughest challenge to come from Washington and Navy.

In a semifinal matchup of the country's two undefeated second varsity eights, Washington finished first, with Harvard second; both advance to the Grands. Parker confirmed the suspicion: "We decided before the row that if it were just two boats out front, there was no point in rowing the race today. We'll wait for tomorrow to take another crack at it."

The freshmen eight also qualified out of their semi, aided by the return of stroke Brendan Hodge, who sat out the Thursday heats with a muscle strain. The crew rowed a conservative race, placing second behind Cal, but comfortably ahead of Stanford in the three-to-qualify semi. Parker noted that Hodge "seems OK, although we won't really know until tomorrow; we are guardedly hopeful."

In women's lightweight racing, Radcliffe fulfilled the promise of its top seed, advancing directly to the Grand final by placing first in its heat. Wisconsin won the other heat. Georgetown, Rhode Island, Princeton, and Central Florida advanced through the afternoon reps, and will join Radcliffe and Wisconsin in the Grand final.

The men's lightweight eights national championships also take place today, with both heats in the morning and finals in the afternoon.

Harvard also qualified for the Grand finals in the men's freshman fours, the men's open fours (two crews), the men's varsity fours, and the men's varsity four without coxswain.

This story ran on page E7 of the Boston Globe on 6/5/2004. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

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