SEATTLE – The No. 2-ranked Washington men's rowing team swept all four races Saturday in the 108th annual Cal Dual, beating No. 4 California in the first, second and third varsity eight, as well as the freshman eight.
 
Washington, unbeaten in any boat this season, retained the Schoch Cup with its win in the varsity eight race, coming from behind to beat the Bears by nearly a length. It was the UW men's first win over the Bears on their Montlake Cut home course since 2013 and their 75th all-time victory in the Dual.
 
"Before the race, I thought the one thing that this crew needed was to learn how to win the hard ones," UW head coach Michael Callahan said. "Today was a hard one. I think it's an incredible confidence builder for our program.
 
"Last night, we talked about that it would come down to trust," Callahan added. "Trust in yourself and in the person next to you ­– you're pulling for each other. When you're down by a length in the last 1,000 meters, you have to have a lot of trust in each other to come through."
 
In the feature race, California left the starting dock at a high rate and built an early lead over the UW eight. At 500 meters, the visitors led by just over a second and at 1,000 meters, just over two. But the Huskies, coxed by Seattleite Adam Gold and stroked by Woodinville's Samuel Halpert, never let the Cal eight out of closing range and managed to take the lead by 1,500 meters. The UW crossed the finish line to win in a time of 5:32.554 seconds, while Cal's time was 5:35.784.
 
The second varsity eight race was also close, though the Huskies managed to lead the entire way – never by a very large margin, however. The Husky eight, coxed by sophomore Kira Lewis, kept the Huskies in front by a half of a boat length or more for the majority of the 2,000 meters, finishing eight seats ahead of the Bears in a time of 5:37.312. Cal crossed in 5:39.853.
 
The Washington freshmen started the day with a win in their race. The Husky frosh took the lead out of the start and led by about a length as the two crews crossed the 500-meter buoy. At 1,000 meters, the Huskies maintained the lead. The Husky crew, coxed by Thomas Wenk, crossed the finish line in 5:51.420, good enough for an open-water victory over the Bears (5:55.961).
 
The Huskies won the third varsity eight race in similar fashion and by a similar margin. Coxed by Kimmons Wilson and stroked by Steve Rosts, the 3V started aggressively and took the lead from the beginning. Cal closed the gap in the final few hundred meters, but still finished more than five second back of the Huskies, who finished in 5:43.536. Cal's time was 5:47.822.
 
Up Next
The UW men have a week off before hosting the annual Opening Day/Windermere Cup Regatta May 4 on Montlake Cut. The Huskies will race against Germany and No. 8-ranked Boston University in the feature race.
 
Washington Lineups
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Samuel Halbert (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville)
7: Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./Citrus)
6: Simon van Dorp (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
5: Madison Molitor (Moses Lake, Wash./Moses Lake)
4: David Bridges (Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
3: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
2: Harvey Kay (Nottingham, U.K.)
Bow: Michiel Mantel (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Grand Challenger
Cox: Kira Lewis (Belleuve, Wash./Interlake)
Stroke: Peter Lancashire (Port Macquarie, Australia)
7: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, Netherlands)
6: Tennyson Federspiel (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
5: Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./Brewster Academy
4: Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis./West)
3: Elijah Maesner (Duvall, Wash./Eastlake)
2: Philipp Nonnast (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth, Australia)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Kimmons Wilson (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Stroke: Steve Rosts (Jordan, Ont., Canada/Eden)
7: Cole Zwierzynski (Portland, Ore./Franklin)
6: Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./Bothell)
5: Ian Engstrom (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
4: Felix Reinhold (Cape Town, South Africa)
3: Nick Everett (Brockville, Ont., Canada)
2: Max Rennie (Deniniquin, Australia)
Bow: Carsten Rossen (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland)
 
Freshman Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz II
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Stroke: Matt Condrin (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit)
7: Alex Dumitriu Carcoana (Fargo, N.D./N`orthfield Mt. Hermon)
6: Vukasin Pivac (Belgrade, Serbia)
5: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
4: Chandler Kovacevich (Snohomish, Wash./Monroe)
3: Jason Pyke (Bellevue, Wash./International School)
2: Jack Premzic (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior)
Bow: Nils Vorberg (Hamburg, Germany)
 
About Washington Rowing
Rowing at University of Washington was established in 1901 with support from the local business community. In 1903, Washington entered its first intercollegiate race and defeated California, starting their storied "Cal Dual" rivalry. From this beginning, UW crews became the champions in the nation, winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics in 1936 as described in the New York Times bestseller The Boys in the Boat. UW has continued its tradition of winning championships and Olympic medals, and today is one of the best university rowing programs in the world. With its state-of-the-art training facility located on the UW campus right on the shores of Lake Washington, surrounded by mountains and in close proximity to the iconic Montlake Cut, Washington Rowing attracts the best men and women student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. More information at GoHuskies.com, WashingtonRowing.com and @UW_Rowing.