Princeton Rowing Association Announces 2016 Schedule

The Princeton National Rowing Association (“PNRA”) will host 10 major events including two national championships, Olympic/Paralympic/World Championship trials, and several regional and conference championships on Mercer Lake this year, PNRA said Monday morning.

This will be the third year that PNRA has hosted the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta, which officials say provides over $10 million of economic impact to the region each year, according to studies performed by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and PNRA.

The IRA scheduled for June 3-5, is the National Championship for the collegiate open men, lightweight men and lightweight women which are not NCAA championship sports.

“PNRA has worked hard to develop a race course and overall regatta experience that is nationally recognized as being one of the best. It’s exciting to be the host venue for so many prominent events this spring,” Events Manager Hilary Gehman said. “The Mercer County Park facilities and the great volunteers in the area have allowed us to build this reputation.”

First staged in 1870, the IRA National Championship came into its current form in 1895 and figures prominently in the bestselling book “Boys In The Boat.”

The University of Washington edged out California-Berkeley and Princeton for the open men’s championship last year. Cornell and Stanford took the lightweight men’s and lightweight women’s National Championships, respectively.

USRowing’s Youth National Championship will take place June 10-12. This event brings together the top scholastic and club teams from throughout the United States to crown the National Champion in 18 different events. Last year’s event in Sarasota, Florida, included 163 teams from 39 states. PNRA’s Mercer Junior Program finished second.

PNRA’s Mercer Junior Rowing Programs will also compete in the Mercer Lake Sprints, April 16-17 and the USRowing Mid-Atlantic Junior Championships, May 7-8.

Both of these events are for high school aged athletes representing both clubs and scholastic programs.

The Mercer Lake Sprints will bring 2,500 athletes from as far away as Georgia and Illinois to compete in the two day event, and will include the Sweep Sprint Championship Event for the first time this year.

This will be the last event of the regatta on Sunday and will be limited to the top 6 teams. Teams will be selected based on performance in their Women’s Varsity 8, Men’s Varsity 8, Women’s Varsity 4, and Men’s Varsity 4.

Each of these 4 boats will race 500 meters in relay style to determine the overall Sweep Sprint Champion. The Mid-Atlantic Championships will feature approximately 1,500 athletes and serve as the qualifying event for the 2016 USRowing Youth National Championships.

The Knecht Cup scheduled for April 9-10, is one of the largest collegiate regattas in the country. This regatta is a two-day collegiate regatta that attracts 70 teams from as far away as San Diego, CA, and Florida.

On May 15, the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and Ivy League will share Mercer Lake for their Conference Championships. The winners of each of the conference championships will earn a berth at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships.

As a U.S.A. Olympic Training Site, PNRA will host three sets of trials races to select teams for international competition in 2016.

On April 6-7, PNRA hosts the trials to select the USA Paralympic TA2x team that will compete in Gavarate, Italy, in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic regatta in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 9-12.

June 20-22 will see the trials for the US Olympic Rowing Team pairs (2-) to determine who will represent the Unites States in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, August 6-14.

The teams for the Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships will be selected in races scheduled for July 18-22. The Championship will take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, August 20-28.

The Mercer Lake race course will also host several smaller dual races between the programs that row out of the Caspersen Rowing Center. Among these is the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) Championship on May 14.

The 2016 calendar is as follows:

April 6-7: US Paralympic TA2X Team Trials.

April 9-10: Knecht Cup

April 16-17: Mercer Lake Sprints.

May 7-8: USRowing Mid-Atlantic Junior Regionals.

May 14: Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) Championships.

May 15: Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships and Ivy League conference Championships

June 3-5: Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.

June 10-12: USRowing Youth National Championships.

June 20-22: Olympic Trials II (2- trials)

July 18-22: Junior/U23/Senior World Championship Trials.

November 5-6: Collegiate Small Boat Championship

November 12-13: Frostbite and Braxton Regatta Regattas

Event sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Events Manager Hilary Gehman at hgehman@rowpnra.org or call 609-799-7100 x106 for more information.

The attached image is a Patch file photo