“It was a little nerve-racking going into the second five hundred,” Howard said. “We knew Cal was in front of us, we were neck and neck with Washington and Princeton maybe a little bit up.”

Cal established as much as a seven-seat lead before the Crimson made a concerted push after the halfway mark. Washington began to fade at the 1000, and Princeton and Harvard found themselves battling one another yet again. Both boats used the bow ball-to-bow ball race to edge up on first-place Cal, which could never establish an open-water advantage over either crew.

“Cal was unable to get open water which was huge psychologically,” Boston said. “Keeping contact with the boat, we were able to push back through them.”

Harvard and Princeton drew even with Cal with about 600 meters to go, and then the Crimson dismantled the other boats with a powerful sprint in the final 500. With 400 meters to go, Harvard surged forward for its third consecutive national title, leaving Princeton and Cal in a race for second.

“We had been ready to put together a really good sprint,” Howard said. “And we did it.”

“When it gets to be time for business,” Boston added, “it’s time for business.”

The Crimson finished in 5:31.68, Princeton followed in 5:32.94, and Cal took home third place in 5:35.9. It was Harvard’s closest win at IRAs in the three-year run—the Crimson won by open water the two times before—but the three-seat win was more than plenty for a crew that entered the season at No. 4.

“Before the race,” Howard said, “I thought that no matter what, we’ve proven ourselves this year and we’re a champion crew.”

They proved themselves again on Saturday, and now Howard and company can add the word “national” to their champion crew label.

Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.