SEATTLE – Washington's men's and women's rowing teams swept the marquee races at the 33rd annual Windermere Cup Saturday, in front of a huge crowd lining Montlake Cut.
 
With sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the turnout for the Opening Day of boating season was about as good as it gets. The weather also made for fast racing conditions for most of the races, though a headwind through the Montlake Cut picked up late.
 
Washington won the men's and women's Windermere and Cascade Cups, and also won all but one of the other six collegiate races, winning men's and women's third varsity eights, men's open eights and both fours events. In the Windermere Cup races, the No. 1-ranked UW women beat Germany and UCLA while the No. 2 men won against the Germans and Boston University.
 
Both Yasmin Farooq and Michael Callahan, the Huskies' men's and women's head coaches, cited Friday night's inaugural "Montlake Night Sprints" for their success at Saturday's main event. On Friday, the fields for the men's and women's Windermere Cups raced 600 meters down the Cut in a first-of-its-kind event for U.S. college rowing. Washington won both of those races, which each came down to the wire.
 
"Last night, we did the night sprints, and that was really exciting and very close," Farooq explained. "The Germans kept us honest. It came down to the final five strokes last night.
 
"I think everybody felt like – after such a close race last night – it was going to be really interesting today," she continued. "We talked about our start, and making it more effective. I thought the start in the varsity eight was excellent. They got off the line really well."
 
"We had to be aggressive from the first stroke and establish our rhythm," Callahan said. "That was a good lesson between last night and this morning."
 
Next for the Huskies is the postseason as both teams travel to Pac-12 Championships in two weeks, followed by NCAAs (women) and IRAs (men) two weeks after that.
 
"One of the reasons to bring the Germans and BU out here was because we want some of the world's best," Callahan added. "We wanted to learn about ourselves and that's what we got. They helped us raise our level."
 
Here are recaps of the four feature races, the men's and women's Windermere Cups and Cascade Cups:
 
Men's Windermere Cup
The men's Windermere Cup, which featured the varsity eights from Washington and No. 8-ranked Boston University alongside Germany, got off to a blistering start. By 500 meters, the UW eight had a two-second lead over the Germans, with Boston University another second back – each within striking distance of the others. But the Huskies' start put them in good stead as they continued to increase their lead as the crews entered the Cut, where they were met by a headwind.
 
Washington, coxed by Seattleite Adam Gold and stroked by Woodinville High grad Samuel Halbert, held its pace and its lead through the final portions of the race. The Huskies crossed the finish with a time of 5:42.134, with about a quarter of a length of open water back to the Germans (5:47.042). The Terriers finished a close third, in 5:49.358.
 
Women's Windermere Cup
Washington had both is first and second varsity eights in the women's Windermere Cup, squaring off with Germany and UCLA. The Huskies' top crew, featuring German rowers Tabea Schendekehl and Calina Schanze, rowed off the starting dock quickly and took the lead from the start, with Germany second and UCLA third initially. By 1,000 meters, the UW crew had established an open-water lead over the field and it appeared the race was on for second place as the Huskies extended their lead in the third 500. The German crew, made up mostly of Under-23 World Championships-level athletes, fought off advances from the Bruins and the Huskies' second varsity eight (stroked by German Klara Grube) and held on for second place.
 
Washington's varsity eight time of 6:14.379 was the third-fasted in Montlake Cut history for a women's crew, trailing only the NCAA Champion Husky varsity eight from 2017 and the Soviet Union crew from 1987's Windermere Cup. Germany finished second with a time of 6:19.883. The Husky 2V8+ edged UCLA for third place.
 
Men's Cascade Cup
The men's Cascade Cup featured the second varsity eights from Washington and Boston University, along with UC Santa Barbara's first varsity eight. The experienced Husky boat, featuring seniors Kimmons Wilson (cox), Andrew Gaard, Elijah Maesner and Philipp Nonnast rowed a terrific race, taking the lead from the start and rowing in the lead the entire way. Washington led by about three seconds at 500 meters and by five at 1,000 meters. The Huskies crossed the finish in 5:44.301, about three lengths of open water in front of the Terriers (5:57.237). UCSB finished in third with a time of 6:14.741.
 
Women's Cascade Cup
UCLA's second varsity eight got the early lead in the women's Cascade Cup, rowing past the 500-meter buoy with a lead over the Washington third varsity crew, with the top crews from Seattle Pacific and Western Washington close behind. The Bruins still led at 1,000 meters, but in the third 500, the Huskies took a lead and the two boats headed into the entrance to the Cut neck and neck. Washington's crew, coxed by Sachi Yamamoto and stroked by Tea Federspiel, took charge in front of home crowd, moving in front in the final 500 at the large crowd's urging. The Huskies won the race by a length, with a time 6:39.835, ahead of second-place UCLA (6:43.775). Seattle Pacific's first varsity eight took third place, ahead of Western Washington's top women's boat.
 
Up Next
Washington's men and women will head to Lake Natoma near Sacramento for the 2019 Pac-12 Championships on Sunday, May 19. Both Husky teams have won the Pac-12 title the last two years.
 
Washington Women's Lineups
 
Varsity Eight Gold (Windermere Cup)
Shell: Title IX Tenacity
Cox: Marley Avritt (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Tabea Schendekehl (Dortmund, Germany)
7: Calina Schanze (Behlendorf, Germany)
6: Sofia Asoumanaki (Athens, Greece)
5: Marlee Blue (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names Academy)
4: Teal Cohen (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School)
3: Mackenna Cameron (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth Int'l.)
2: Jennifer Wren (Seattle Wash./Bishop Blanchet)
Bow: Carmela Pappalardo (Salerno, Italy)
 
Varsity Eight Purple (Windermere Cup)
Shell: Title IX Sisterhood
Cox: Amanda Durkin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham)
Stroke: Klara Grube (Lübeck, Germany)
7: Lark Skov (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs)
6: Elise Beuke (Sequim, Wash./Sequim)
5: Kieanna Stephens (Vancouver, B.C., Canada)
4: Molly Gallaher (Snoqualmie, Wash./Skyline)
3: Valentina Iseppi (Gardone Riviera, Italy)
2: Skylar Jacobson (Lakewood, Wash./Steilacoom)
Bow: Adele Likin (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
 
Third Varsity Eight (Cascade Cup)
Shell: Jean LaFromboise
Cox: Sachi Yamamoto (Seattle, Wash./Franklin)
Stroke: Tea Federspiel (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
7: Ellie Bruce (Snoqualmie, Wash./Mount Si)
6: Taylor Buell (Olympia, Wash./Capital)
5: Sophia Chaffey (Redmond, Wash./Bellevue Christian)
4: Ava Trogus (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest)
3: Rachel McGlothlen (Spokane, Wash./West Valley)
2: Mia Middleton (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe)
Bow: Laurel Safranek (Anchorage, Alaska/W. Anchorage)
 
Novice Eight (Women's Collegiate Third Varsity 8+)
Shell: Erickson Family
Cox: Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills)
Stroke: Sierra Williams (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland STEM)
7: Hallie Jensen (Spokane, Wash./Lakeside)
6: Carmen McNamara-Smith (Seattle, Wash./Center School)
5: Joïe Zier (Orcas Island, Wash./Orcas Island)
4: Claire Marion (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos)
3: Isabelle Knowles (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island)
2: Brittani Shappell (Bellingham, Wash./Walworth Barbour)
Bow: Madi Frampton (Tumwater, Wash./Black Hills)
 
Fourth Varsity Eight (Women's Collegiate Open 8+)
Shell: Kari Osterhaug
Cox: Marleyna Beene (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula)
Stroke: Claire Sirmon (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee)
7: Katie Dolan (Barrington, R.I./Barrington)
6: Jillian Pape (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor)
5: Megan Andersen (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline)
4: Jada Rasmussen (Okanogan, Wash./Okanogan)
3: Ellie Gold (Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee)
2: Lauren Preston (Newtown, Pa./Notre Dame)
Bow: Maddy Cope (Olympia, Wash./Olympia)
 
Varsity Four A (Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+)
Shell: EOC '96
Stroke: Holly Drapp (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest)
3: Emma Vagen (Kent, Wash./Kentwood)
2: McKenna Bryant (Kent, Wash./Kennedy Catholic)
Bow: Denise Devlyn (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen's Episcopal)
Cox: Isabella Corriere (Montclair, N.J./Montclair)
 
Varsity Four B (Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+)
Shell: Allegra
Stroke: Dimitra Tsamopoulou (Athens, Greece)
3: Ella Cossill (Gold Coast, Australia)
2: Marguerite Trost (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall School)
Bow: Jenna Phillips (Dayton, Wash./Dayton)
Cox: Dana Brooks (Tiburon, Calif./Redwood)
 
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.