The traditional start to the Washington rowing season comes this Saturday, March 22, as the UW hosts the 124th annual Class Day Regatta on Montlake Cut.
 
Fans are encouraged to line the Cut to watch the races. For those unable to make it in person, however, there will be a live video feed (see link at top-right of this page).
 
Class Day events are centered around the main men's and women's races, which pit an eight-oared crew each of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors against each other in a standard, 2,000-meter race that ends in the Montlake Cut.
 
Last year saw a slightly new twist as the women's race was won by a crew of fifth-year Huskies, who raced as a class for the first time in the history of the regatta. That same class (Class of '23) had won as seniors the year before, and as juniors in 2022. In the men's race, the seniors won the Class Day race for the fourth year in a row. 
 
Saturday's schedule includes four races: men's and women's freshman/varsity challenge races, followed by The Seattle Times Women's Eight and the George M. Varnell Men's Eight.
 
10:00 a.m. PT – Men's Freshman/Varsity Challenge
10:15 a.m. PT – Women's Freshman/Varsity Challenge
10:30 a.m. PT – George M. Varnell Men's Eight
10:45 a.m. PT – The Seattle Times Women's Eight
 
Along with the live video stream, fans can follow live results at HereNow.com.
 
Class Day was first held in 1901 for the men and in 1907 for the women (after a long period of dormancy, the women's races returned in 1976). The regatta is preceded on Friday night by the annual Varsity Boat Club Banquet. Following is some history on the various events that are included as part of Class Day weekend:
 
Varsity Boat Club Banquet
Washington's Varsity Boat Club was established in 1910, when coach Hiram Conibear begin utilizing buildings constructed for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition (the World's Fair, held on the UW campus) to house members of the rowing team – both men and women at the time. The VBC was headquartered in what had been the Coast Guard exhibition (men) and the nearby Tea House (women), both on the shores of Lake Union (the Montlake Cut did not yet exist). 
 
The VBC played a critical role in the team's eventual move to what is now called the ASUW Shellhouse, and eventually to Conibear Shellhouse, where rowers lived for decades.
 
In 1977, with women's rowing having achieved varsity status at UW, women returned to the Club.
 
Each year, on the evening before Class Day, the VBC holds its annual banquet, where new members are inducted, and the Club's officers are introduced. To qualify for membership in the VBC, new inductees must have completed four academic quarters on the UW team.
 
Additionally, at the annual VBC Banquet, team captains are announced, and men's and women's awards for the highest GPA (Schaller Award) and Most Inspirational (Pigott Award) are presented. 
 
Class Day Regatta
Even before rowing became an intercollegiate sport at the University of Washington, the program's oldest tradition got its start. In the early spring of 1901, taking advantage of the campus' location on Lake Washington and growing interest in taking part in a sport in which many top universities had long participated, a group of students organized the first Class Day Regatta, on May 17, 1901. Two years later, in 1903, a four-oared UW crew beat a four from the University of California in Washington's first intercollegiate race.
 
To this day, Class Day represents the traditional start of the UW Rowing spring season, as eight-oared shells crewed by members of each class race against one another. In the very first regatta in 1901, the sophomore crew mistakenly thought it had crossed the finish line and stopped rowing, allowing the freshmen to win, crossing the actual finish line first. 
 
In the modern era, two additional races run prior to the featured men's and women's Class Day races, have typically been arranged, allowing for as many available rowers as possible to compete in a race that day. Typically, these "classless" races pit eights or fours consisting of athletes from a variety of classes making up each crew.
 
Each year, the winner of the men's Class Day race is presented the George M. Varnell Trophy, named in honor of the famed Seattle sportsman. Varnell played football at the University of Chicago, was Gonzaga's first basketball coach, competed in track at the 1904 Olympics, refereed a record eight Rose Bowl games, and was the longtime sports editor of the Seattle Times. 
 
The UW women have competed in Class Day since 1977 and row for the Seattle Times Trophy, owing to the newspaper's longtime dedication to coverage of the Washington rowing programs.
 
Awards Presentation and Barbeque
After each Class Day Regatta concludes, the rowers and fans return to Conibear Shellhouse, where the winning classes are presented with their respective trophies, award winners originally announced at the VBC banquet are re-introduced, and the Katy Wallace Memorial Award, given to the women's team's outstanding walk-on rower, is presented. 
 
Following the awards ceremony, the public is welcome to join the athletes and coaches for a barbecue lunch, hosted by the UW Rowing Stewards, at Conibear Shellhouse.