The Husky rowing program’s steadiness is as certain as the sunrise east of Lake Washington every morning.
The University of Washington women’s and men’s teams have won eight team titles between them in the past ten years alone. The men are attempting to defend four different national championships.
Men’s head coach Michael Callahan stated, “There’s greats before us and they set the standard, and now it’s our job to reach that standard or to exceed it.”
Growing up in Sammamish, Parker Raines, a senior on the men’s team, witnessed the program’s dominance firsthand. It was the cause of his desire to be a husky.
“There’s a lot of history to it and I think that really fuels a lot of the motivation behind it,” Raines stated. “There’s all these people before you and hopefully, all these people after that will continue to keep on winning.”
Over a century of history, with 46 medals and 125 Olympians. It’s a source of pride for the entire community of Seattle, not just the institution.
“It’s a team that’s been here for over 100 years,” Callahan stated. “Seattle’s surrounded by water and hardworking people and people who like to work in teams, so I think the University of Washington really supports its rowing team and always has been for over a century.”
The men’s program is not the end of the history. Yaz Farooq, head coach of the women’s team, was a coxswain for the 1989–1996 U.S. National Team women’s eight and made her Olympic debut in 1992 in Barcelona.
“It’s always had incredible community support since before The Boys in the Boat, when the city of Seattle actually sent them to the Berlin Olympics in 1936,” Farooq stated. “And that’s been true for the men and for the women, as well.”
The assistance is reciprocal. Every spring, Seattle’s boating season begins with the Windermere Cup, and the Huskies show off their skills in the regatta to welcome the locals back.
“The Windermere Cup is an epic spectacle,” Farooq stated.
Raines, who attended Skyline High School, has vivid memories of it.
“I raced in it once when I was in high school and that was the best racing experience I have ever had in my whole career,” Raines stated. “Coming and racing through the Montlake Cut is just really special, especially when everybody packs the Cut. It’s one of the greatest rowing settings in the world, I think. There’s nothing else like it.”
The New Zealand national team, which is among the greatest in the world, will play the Huskie teams in this year’s Windermere Cup.
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Four athletes from New Zealand are now on Washington’s women’s team: Olivia Hay, Madeleine Parker, Shakira Mirfin, and Zola Kemp. Additionally, they will take on three-time All-American and 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Rower of the Year Ella Cossill, a former Husky.
Harry Fitzpatrick, Kieran Joyce, Marley Kingsmith, Oliver Leach, Will Milne, Ben Shortt, and Ullrich are the seven Kiwis on the current Husky men’s team.
In their Big Ten rankings leading up to conference titles in mid-May, the women will host the University of Indiana.
