RACING TO THE FINISH

Men’s And Women’s Rowing Teams Cruising Through 2022 En Route to Windermere Cup

MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

Men’s Rowing RECAP

The heart of the men’s rowing season is at hand for the Washington Huskies.

But they’ve already been plenty busy – and plenty successful, too, starting last fall when they finished second at the Head of the Housatonic in Shelton, Conn.; won the Head of the Charles in Boston, then won the Head of the Lake in Seattle.

Through the early spring, the Huskies swept all races against Washington State in a dual match-up on March 26 through the Montlake Cut. They went on to sweep a double-dual against Stanford and Oregon State in Seattle, then won every race on both days of a two-regatta trip to Northern California April 9-10: the Ky Ebright Invitational in Oakland and the Pac-12 Invitational in Redwood City.

As always, the circle-the-calendar day for the regular season is the dual against Cal. This time, it was in Redwood Shores on April 23. Washington won the freshman eights, while the Bears came out on top in the other races.

The season begins in earnest on May 7, with the Windermere Cup on Montlake Cut, this will be the first Windermere since 2019, with the last two canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Netherlands national eight will be in Seattle for that race, their first appearance here since 1994. It’s noteworthy that Washington’s first-line varsity eight has two Dutch rowers, Gert-Jan van Doorn and Simon van Dorp. The eight also includes international rowers from New Zealand, Canada, and Germany.

A week later, on May 15, the Pacific-12 Championships begin at Dexter Lake just south of Eugene. Washington’s varsity eight has won the race 41 times since the team’s first victory in 1962.

That will be followed by the IRA Championships Regatta in West Windsor, N.J., from June 3-5. Last year, UW swept all four grand finals at the IRA. Overall, the Huskies have won 19 IRA national championships.

Women's Rowing RECAP

As they again look toward the challenge of being the best in the Pacific-12 and in the country, the University of Washington women’s rowers will take on a team that is consistently among the best in the world.

Great Britain, traditionally one of the strongest eights anywhere, will come to Seattle and to the Montlake Cut on May 7 to compete in the Windermere Cup for the fourth time.

The British eight won the 1998 Windermere race against a Huskies boat that went on to capture the NCAA title. They also competed in the 2002 and 2014 races, finishing third and second, respectively.

Great Britain’s eight was seventh in the 2020 Olympics (contested in 2021 because of the pandemic). The British also won gold in the women's four at the 2021 World Rowing Under-23 Championships, with a crew that included current UW rower Holly Dunford.

Angharad Broughton of Wales rowed in the first varsity eight at Cal, and Abby Adebiyi of England was in the second eight.

The Huskies posted some solid results throughout the spring, capped by winning all four of the eights in the annual showdown against Cal, this time at Redwood Shores in California. Washington also won the eights on both days of the Las Vegas Invitational and placed third at the San Diego Crew Classic.

Washington, ranked as high as third in the nation this season, closes the schedule with the Pac-12 Championships May 15 on Dexter Lake just south of Eugene. UW has won the event 18 times since 1987.

It’s then on to the NCAA Championships, set for May 27-29 in Sarasota, Fla. The Huskies are the defending national champions.