LEWISTON, Maine -- Recently graduated Bates men's rower Sean Christiansen and rising senior captain Luke Desmaison are Empacher first team All-Americans, as announced last week by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Bates was also honored for the men's rowing team's achievements in the classroom as 14 Bobcats were named IRCA Scholar Athletes.

Christiansen (Roxbury Conn.) rowed in the second seat of the first varsity eight this season while serving as one of three team captains for the Bobcats. He helped the 1V earn a bronze medal at the IRA National Championship, the second medal won at IRAs in program history. He also earned first team All-NESCAC honors after Bates won a silver medal at the National Invitational Rowing Championship. A three-time NESCAC spring All-Academic selection, Christiansen was one of 90 Senior Scholar Award-winners, given to Bobcats who have participated in varsity sports for four years and maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better. 

Desmaison (New York City) rowed in the stroke seat of the first varsity eight this season and will serve as a team captain next year. Like Christiansen, he helped Bates earn a bronze medal at the IRA National Championship and a silver medal at the National Invitational Rowing Championship. A first team All-NESCAC selection, Desmaison is one of 15 Bobcats returning to the men's rowing team next year from the 23 who competed at IRAs.  

This is the first All-America honor of both Christiansen and Desmaison's careers. 

According to the IRCA, in order to be named an All-American, rowers and coxswains must have met the following criteria:

• The student-athlete must meet all eligibility rules defined by their institution.
• The student must have raced in their team's varsity boat for the current spring racing season.
• The student-athlete must be nominated by their institution.
• The head coach of the student athlete's institution must be in good standing with the IRCA.

Nominated student-athletes are then selected by the IRCA Board of Directors to "1st team", "2nd team", or "Honorable Mention" based on the following criteria:

• Strength of finish of the institution's varsity boat.
• Nomination rank within institution.
• Coach's comments, individual achievements, and erg score.

The 14 Bobcats named IRCA Scholar Athletes are: coxswain Izzy Beck '25 (Upper Montclair, N.J.), coxswain Darien Chiang '27 (Quincy, Mass.), Christiansen, Desmaison, Finian Guinney '27 (Seattle), Nicholas Hoerle '27 (Osprey, Fla.), Luke Johnson '27 (Lexington, Mass.), Hugh McCabe '27 (Arlington, Mass.), Conor McGuckin '26 (New Hope, Pa.), Lando Putnam-Bagley '27 (Medford, Mass.), Benji Richards '27 (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.), coxswain Micah Shimizu '26 (Batavia, Ill.) Jimmy Staller '25 (Exeter, N.H.), and team captain Ian Van Loo '25 (Seattle).

According to the IRCA, in order to be named a scholar athlete, rowers and coxswains must have met the following criteria:

• Athletes must be in their second year or more of eligibility.
• Athletes must have competed in their program's top 3 boats during the current season or raced at the 2024 IRA Championship.
• Athletes must have, at least, a 3.50 cumulative GPA through fall semester.