The winner received an expense paid trip to the Henley Royal Regatta as a prize. After 1996, however, the race was discontinued. Given Washington's return to the IRA in 1995 and the demise of the National Collegiate Rowing Championship, the IRA again was considered to be the national championship. In 2003, Harvard and Yale, after an absence of over one hundred years, decided to participate. For men's rowing the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia is considered the national championship for smaller college teams unable to compete at the IRA standard (similar to Division III or I-AA in other sports). It is the largest collegiate race in the nation. Starting in 2008, club crews (non-Varsity programs) were no longer allowed to participate in the IRA Regatta, and the ACRA National Championship Regatta is considered the National Championship for collegiate club programs and all programs outside the NCAA/IRA structure. Unlike most collegiate sports, club-level crews regularly compete against Varsity programs and are often competitive. Qualification As of 2018, qualification for the National Championship Regatta comes from automatic qualifying positions at the three major rowing conference championships, three National Regattas, and at-large bids. The automatic qualification bids are assigned as: Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges: Eastern Sprints (Top Nine Eligible IRA Finishers) Pac-12 Conference: Pac-12 Championships (Top Three Eligible IRA Finishers) Western Sprints: Western Sprints Championships (Top Two Eligible IRA Finishers) Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association: SIRA Regatta (Top One Eligible IRA Finisher) Dad Vail Regatta: (Top One Eligible IRA Finisher) National Invitational Rowing Championships: (Top One Eligible IRA Finisher) Typically, there are a total of 24 entries with the above 17 entries granted as automatic qualification bids. The remaining 7 entries are selected by the IRA in the weeks following the conclusion of all qualifying regattas. The IRA awards the Varsity Challenge Cup to the men's heavyweight national championship 8, the 1922 Trophy to the men's lightweight national championship 8, and the Camden County Freeholders Trophy to the women's lightweight national championship 8. The IRA also awards the Ten Eyck Trophy to the university amassing the largest number of points in three of the four possible eights from each school. Women's Between 1967 and 1980, women's collegiate boats entered the National Women's Rowing Association National Championships (what is now the USRowing National Championships). The college boats raced against club boats, including boats from outside the United States. The best finishing US collegiate boat