Pirates rule the water at WIRA Championships

SACRAMENTO -- It was a historic weekend of rowing for the Orange Coast College men's crew as they put up some of their best-ever times at the 2026 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships at Lake Natoma.

With three grand final championships, two more grand final appearances and runner-up in the Novice 4 petite final, the Pirates managed to earn the Team Points trophy at WIRA for the first time since 2008, earning 349 points. UC Santa Barbara finished second in the team total with 339 points, while Santa Clara University (310) finished third overall.

Both of OCC's novice boats, as well as the lightweight Novice 4 boat, all came home with championship trophies for their collective efforts. 

The Novice 8 conquered the 2,000-meter race with a winning time of 6:07.63, topping runner-up UCLA (6:15.16) by nearly eight seconds. University of San Diego finished third with a time of 6:17.99, followed by Washington State (6:23.47), UC Davis (6:32.56) and Long Beach State (6:36.76)

OCC's Second Novice 8 boat also came home a grand finals winner with a time of 6:34.20, earning an open-water win over runner-up UCLA (6:48.05) and Long Beach State (7:04.55)

It was an even bigger margin of victory for the Pirates in the Lightweight Novice 4 as the Pirates came in with a winning time of 7:21.11, followed by UCSB (7:57.64) and Seattle University (8:20.80).

In the grand final of the Varsity 8 race, the Pirates broke the 6-minute mark and earned a solid, third-place time of 5:57.34, trailing only Division I powers, Santa Clara (5:53.13) and Gonzaga (5:54.51) in a race that came down to the wire. UCLA (5:58.84) finished fourth, followed by University of San Diego (6:00.50) and Washington State (6:08.75).

Another grand final qualifier for the Pirates in the Second Varsity 8 race, where they finished fourth overall with a time of 6:11.45. OCC's Novice 4 earned a runner-up time of 7:50.37 in the petite final.

Coast's season-ending race will take place on May 14-18 at the American College Rowing Association (ACRA) Championships, in Nashville, Tennessee.