Poughkeepsie Regatta

The newly formed IRA "left New London in frustration and disgust" next year and selected a permanent site for its own annual regatta in June 1895.

[2] The very first IRA race was held in June 1895, on the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, with one Varsity Eight team from Cornell, Columbia and Pennsylvania competing.

The railroad tracks on the west side of the river had a flatbed train which held grandstands from which spectators could watch the race.

Hundreds of boats, yachts, and occasionally even Navy destroyers sailed to Poughkeepsie, and moored on the sides of the river to watch the event.

But the crowds, the cheers, the reporters, parades, and pennants were not the reasons why the Regatta became so intensely popular, the explanation lay in the physical feats of the crew teams.

[3] After 55 years, the IRA Championship Regatta moved in 1950 to Marietta, Ohio; in 1952 to Syracuse, New York; and in 1995 to Camden, New Jersey.

[citation needed] Harvard and Yale remained self-segregated for a century, long after the IRA championship left Poughkeepsie and the Hudson River.

[8] The Hudson River Rowing Association "welcomed back" the Poughkeepsie Regatta in October 2008, running races in eight classifications on a 2.3-mile segment of the traditional course.