(UW ATHLETICS) CAMDEN, N.J. – The Wisconsin women’s lightweight rowing team wrapped up its season this morning by taking home some hardware at the 2025 IRA National Championships. The double sculls crew made up of Abbey DiChiara and Romy McCarthy came away with the silver medal in their event. It marked the boat’s first podium finish since 2019.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Wisconsin came into the day looking to end their season on a high note, and they were to accomplish that. The sophomore duo of Abbey DiChiara and Romy McCarthy had been stellar all season long, and their hard work paid when they raced to the silver medal in their final race of the season. The future looks bright for this pair of underclassmen who will begin their junior campaigns next season.
Wisconsin also competed in the lightweight eight and lightweight four events and placed fifth in both races and finished fifth as a team overall.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SHORE:
Head Coach Hodge Habibovic
“Today was a phenomenal step for our program. We had some extremely strong racing and results and this team has truly been something special this year. I am very proud of our double for getting on the podium with a strong second place finish and being less than a second off of the national champs.
“Our four had a very strong first half of the race and really bounced back after yesterday’s performance in the heats. The varsity eight had another strong performance in their final as well by knocking off Stanford. This is a culmination of the hard work and trust this team put into one another all year and it’s only the beginning. We raced a very young squad this weekend with only two seniors in the varsity eight and no seniors in the smaller boats.
We set out for this year to be a turning point for our team on the national stage and we did just that. I’m so excited for next season already as this train is just leaving the station. Wisco Lights will be a force for years to come.”
IRA National Championships
June 1, 2025
Camden, New Jersey
Cooper River
2000 meters
Team Standings
1. Princeton, 67; 2. Harvard, 59; 3. Boston University, 57; 4. Georgetown, 52; 5. Wisconsin, 51; 6. Stanford, 42; 7. MIT, 32; 8. Gordon, 5
Lightweight Eight – Grand Final
1. Princeton, 6:19.32; 2. Harvard, 6:22.68; 3. Georgetown, 6:29.90; 4. Boston University, 6:37.96.; 5. Wisconsin, 6:40.50; 6. Stanford, 6:41.16
UW Lineup – Coxswain Sarah Rab, Payton Tonnos, Olivia Palmberg, Alex Palmberg, Rianne Wagner, Anika Hanson, Ella Springer, Claire Rulyak, Georgia Harlow
Lightweight Four – Grand Final
1. Princeton, 7:14.32; 2. MIT, 7:15.22; 3. Harvard, 7:18.82; 4. Boston University, 7:18.97; 5. Wisconsin, 7:25.96.; 6.Georgetown, 7:40.88; 7. Stanford, 7:41.92
UW Lineup – Coxswain Emilie Rochon, Charlotte Mirzaian, Audra Chesny, Payton Bradford, Adeline Hinkie
Lightweight Double Sculls – Grand Final
1. Boston, 7:37.35; 2. Wisconsin, 7:38.31; 3. MIT, 7:40.66; 4. Stanford, 7:49.47 5. Georgetown, 7:54.66; 6. Princeton, 7:57.21;
UW Lineup – Abbey DiChiara, Romy McCarthy
UW men finish 13th: Wisconsin men’s rowing claimed 13th place at the 2025 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships on the Cooper River when the three-day event wrapped on Sunday.
The Badgers collected 135 points to finish 13th as a team, a 15-point increase from the 2024 event, to capture the Chapman Trophy for most improved team.
Wisconsin’s varsity eight and second varsity eight both took second in their third-level finals to place 14th overall. Both boats improved five spots from their 19th-place results at last year’s event.
The UW third varsity eight won its third-level final and claimed 13th place to match its 2024 achievement.
On Saturday, UW’s varsity four earned third in the fourth-level final to place 21st, four better than last year.
Straight from the Shore
Head coach Beau Hoopman
“We ended the IRA weekend on an upbeat note. The wind has been pretty gusty with a tailwind the last two days, and again the finals were as much a tightrope walk as the semis. Whitecaps in the last 500 made for some interesting finishes.”
On the team’s improvement
“We are greatly improved from last year. We improved speed in all three boats all throughout the weekend, posting the fastest times each boat has recorded on the year. We were only eight seconds back of the fastest time of the day in the 1V, which is a colossal improvement. We also improved our placing in all three boats from last year, so much so that we won the Chapman Team Trophy for most improved for team points. However, if you ask any of the guys, there’s more that can be given and the returners are already looking forward to improving next fall.”
On the seniors
“We honored and thanked the seniors and sent them off on a positive note. Proud of what they all accomplished this year, but know the team has an uphill battle ahead to stay competitive with the loss of 11 upperclassmen.
“We have to keep building on the momentum and that starts tomorrow at SOAR, looking for fresh faces to try the sport for the first time.”
IRA National Championships
June 1, 2025
Camden, New Jersey
Cooper River
2000 meters
Ten Eyck Trophy Team Standings
1. Washington, 285; 2. Harvard, 279; 3. California, 244; 4. Brown, 238; 5. Princeton, 237; 6. Syracuse, 232; 7. Dartmouth, 221; 8. Yale, 209; 9. Northeastern, 191; 10. Pennsylvania, 179; 11. Cornell, 153; 12. Syracuse, 148; 13. Wisconsin, 135; 14. Boston University, 131; 15. Navy, 127; 16. Temple, 89; 17. LaSalle, 87; 18. Columbia, 85; 19. Georgetown, 78; 20. Holy Cross, 70; 21. Oregon State, 67; 22. UC San Diego, 38; 23. MIT, 15; 24. Gonzaga, 13
Varsity Eight – Final 3 (Places 13-19)
1. Cornell, 5:31.44; 2. Wisconsin, 5:32.22; 3. LaSalle, 5:35.50; 4. Columbia, 5:35.74; 5. Boston University, 5:37.89; 6. Temple, 5:49.05
UW Lineup – Coxswain Henry Benton, Luke Truog, Joe Siddall, Elias Strasman, Andrew Soman, Will Klipstine, Lucas Farmer, Ruffin Bryant, Daniel Hintzman
Second Varsity Eight – Final 3 (Places 13-19)
1. Cornell, 5:41.20; 2. Wisconsin, 5:41.74; 3. Columbia, 5:46.06; 4. Temple, 5:49.74; 5. Navy, 5:54.56; 6. UC San Diego, 5:59.13
UW Lineup – Coxswain Charles Ramquist, Jaden Halom, Maxwell McCartney, William Carey, Thomas Leuty, Luke Lehmann, Henry Griffin, Jack O’Brien, Benjamin Cook
Third Varsity Eight – Final 3 (Places 13-19)
1. Wisconsin, 5:50.08; 2. Holy Cross, 5:50.59; 3. Navy, 5:50.76; 4. Oregon State, 5:56.87; 5. Georgetown, 6:06.08; 6. LaSalle, 6:08.88
UW Lineup – Coxswain Taj Chunawala, Dylan Knanishu, Haakon Rosholt, Samuel Seter, Lukas Weinhold, Benjamin Whelan, Ethan Schumacher, Ethan Dooley, Mitchell Lafferty
SATURDAY
Varsity Four (39 entries)
Final 4 (Places 19-24)
1. Northeastern, 06:31.330; 2. Colgate, 06:34.910; 3. Wisconsin, 06:36.230; 4. Loyola, 06:41.480; 5. Coast Guard, 06:47.130; 6. Boston, 06:49.440
UW Lineup – Coxswain Alexander Quinn, Isaac Rockwell, Walter Stanwood, Henry Wurdell, Patrick Trihey
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