SEATTLE – Washington's men's and women's varsity eights opened up the Windermere Cup/Opening Day Regatta weekend with wins over Australia in Friday's Twilight Springs, edging out the visitors in a pair of close races.
 
The Twilight Sprints, an approximately 650-meter race from the traditional Montlake Cut finish line to the old ASUW Shellhouse at the east end of the canal, serve as a preview of the two Windermere Cup races that will crown Saturday's Opening Day Regatta, when a total of 23 masters, juniors and college races will be held.
 
In a two-boat race to being the evening's activities, the UW men's eight beat the Aussies by about seven seats, cheered on by a fair number of Washington alumni who lined the course, along with more than 1,000 guests at the Party at the Cut, at the ASUW Shellhouse. The Huskies' time was 1:40.75 with the Australians finishing in 1:43.08.
 
Fifteen minutes later, a pair of UW women's shells – a "Purple" and a "Gold" crew – raced against the Australian eight. The Purple crew won the race by about a half of a length over the Aussies, who crossed the finish just ahead of the Gold boat. 
 
The Purple crew won with a time of 1:55.03, 1.8 seconds in front of Australia (1:56.83). The UW Gold crew finished another second back, in 1:57.90.
 
The Australians will get another shot at the Huskies Saturday in the two feature races – the men's and women's Windermere Cup. Racing Saturday on Montlake Cut gets underway at 10:15 a.m., with the first collegiate event scheduled to begin at 10:50 a.m. Fans can watch the races at GoHuskies.com/Live.
 
AUSTRALIA WOMEN'S LINEUP
 
Cox: Nic Rogers (UTS Haberfield Rowing Club)
Stroke: Jaime Ford (Sydney University Boat Club)
7: Eleanor Price (Sydney University Boat Club)
6: Ella Bramwell (Adelaide Rowing Club)
5: Mimi Tuddenham (Mercantile Rowing Club)
4: Laura Foley (Melbourne University Boat Club)
3: Sarah Tisdall (University of Queensland Boat Club)
2: Jean Mitchell (Melbourne University Boat Club)
Bow: Eliza Gaffney (Melbourne University Boat Club)
 
WASHINGTON WOMEN'S LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight Purple
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: Ella Cossill (Waikato, New Zealand )
7: Elena Collier-Hezel (Buffalo, N.Y./Park School/Michigan)
6: Angharad Broughton (Cardiff, Wales, U.K.)
5: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
4: Abby Adebiyi (London, England, U.K.)
3: Nikki Martincic (Newtown, Sydney, Australia)
2: Aisha Rocek (Como, Italy)
Bow: Madi Frampton (Tumwater, Wash.)
 
Varsity Eight Gold
Cox: Grace Murdock (Roswell, Ga./Milton)
Stroke: Ava Meuleman (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
7: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
6: Mira Calder (Victoria, B.C., Canada/Claremont)
5: Isabel van Opzeeland (Hoofddorp, Netherlands)
4: Grace Vander Griend (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome)
3: Leah Nash (Chatham, Mass./Monomoy)
2: Shakira Mirfin (Invercargill, New Zealand)
Bow: Victoria Park (Bellevue, Wash./The Bush School)
 
AUSTRALIA MEN'S LINEUP
 
Cox: Lucy Burnell (Melbourne University Boat Club)
Stroke: Rohan Lavery (Melbourne University Boat Club)
7: Miller Rowe (KAND Rowing Club)
6: Alex Nichol (Sydney Rowing Club)
5: Hamish Wynn-Pope (Melbourne University Boat Club)
4: George Finlayson (UTS Haberfield Rowing Club)
3: Alex Wolf (Sydney Rowing Club)
2: Charlie Batrouney (Melbourne University Boat Club)
Bow: Marcus Britt (Sydney University Boat Club)
 
WASHINGTON MEN'S LINEUP
 
Varsity Eight – Windermere Cup
Cox: Nick Dunlop (Sydney, Australia)
Stroke: Darcy McCluskey (Brisbane, Australia)
7: Povilas Juskevicius (Kaunus, Lithuania)
6: Logan Ullrich (Auckland, New Zealand)
5: Jack Walkey (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
4: Joel Cullen (Chilliwack, B.C./Sardis/UBC)
3: Robert Pluijmert (Dieren, The Netherlands)
2: Cameron Tasker (Norwich, England, U.K.)
Bow: Max Heid (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)