British eights make a splash at Windermere Cup

The UW women impressed by beating the British while the UW men’s crew found themselves squeezed out of a win in the last 250 metres.

Compared to last year’s sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures, this year’s weather presented a  challenge for both sides. But that didn’t stop more than 40,000 spectators from gathering to watch one of the most iconic races in the United States.

Each year the University of Washington invites one country to Seattle and amid the thousands of spectators the teams race to celebrate the opening day of boating season. This year Bob Ernst, Director of Rowing at UW, invited the British rowing team. “The GB crews are first rate athletes. Getting to race crews of this standard is unique in US university rowing. I am so pleased that Sir David Tanner (British Rowing Performance Director) agreed to send these crews and that Windermere is sponsoring this great event,” Ernst said.

The UW crews have not been defeated at this event since the Russians were invited in 2006 so the win by Great Britain’s men is significant .

The UW men’s eight are the 2013 US national champions and they currently rank as No. 1 in United States college rowing., Their race against the British saw them pulling ahead by the 500 metre mark over the 2000m distance. But the British dug in their heels and slowly moved back, upsetting the UW crew in the last 500 meters to win by two seconds with a time of 5:54.0. This is only the third time that the UW men have been beaten in the Windermere Cup.

The UW women, currently ranked 6th in US college rowing, also faced a challenging British crew. But the local crew managed to steadily pull away through the race and finish an impressive boat length ahead of Great Britain in a time of 6:27.9.

The British sent some of their best rowers to face the Washington crew. Great Britain’s men’s coach Rob Dauncey said in an interview with the Seattle Times that from his 30 man team, he brought rowers ranked from seventh to 15th.

The British crews will return home to continue preparing for the 2014 international season, while the University of Washington crews look forward to their spring racing season, culminating in the National Championships at the beginning of June.

For more information on the Windermere Cup.