Yale's Heavyweight Varsity Eight has won three consecutive IRA National Championships and five straight EARC titles. Its performance in the 2019 IRA regatta on California's Lake Natoma has earned the Bulldogs "Men's Collegiate Crew of the Year" by Rowing News in its December issue.

Under the guidance of Steve Gladstone, Yale's Craig W. Johnson '68 Head Coach, whose 14 career IRA Championships are tied for the most, the Elis crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of Washington, the school that was dominating heavyweight crew when the legendary coach came to New Haven in 2010.

"There is a sense of satisfaction that they (athletes) performed at a high level and they did it consistently through the course of the season. When a group of guys accomplish what they set out to accomplish, there is a profound sense of satisfaction," Gladstone told the international magazine.

Yale's current top boat kept the momentum going over the fall by winning the collegiate competition at the Head of the Charles in October. The Bulldogs have now settled into the famous rowing tanks of the Payne Whitney Gym in preparation for spring racing, which begins with the March 28 battle for the Albert Cup with Brown on the Housatonic River in Derby, Conn.