The University of Washington men’s varsity crew won the Windermere Cup in a narrow finish over Great Britain on May 2, capping off the 40th annual event with what was described as one of its most exciting races. The Huskies crossed the finish line just 0.165 seconds ahead of the British National Team, who were gold medalists at the 2024 Olympics and silver medalists at last year’s World Rowing Championships.
The event drew a large crowd along Montlake Cut to witness what organizers called one of the strongest fields in Windermere Cup history. Washington’s winning time was 5:29.082, while Great Britain finished at 5:29.247 and Northeastern University placed third with a time of 5:35.914.
“It was a hell of a win,” said head coach Michael Callahan, who has participated in more than half of all Windermere Cups as both rower and coach. “I don’t think we’ve ever raced two crews of this caliber at the same time here in my coaching career.”
The British crew included Husky alumnus Archie Drummond ’24 and will continue competing internationally this summer, culminating with the World Championships in Amsterdam this August.
Washington also secured victories earlier in the regatta, including winning the Erickson Cascade Cup with their second varsity eight outpacing both their own third varsity eight and Northeastern’s junior varsity eight by nearly five seconds. The Huskies also took first place against Western Washington’s top crew in another race and earned top finishes in men’s Open Four events.
Reflecting on their performance, UW three seat Lyle Donovan said, “It was a great race… We really felt the energy of the crowd, the boat, people on shore above us on the bridge, and that really fueled us to the end.”
This regatta marked Washington men’s final regular-season event before they compete next at Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on May 17 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California. They will then defend their national title later that month at IRA Championships.
