London Bound: Washington Crew Headed Overseas to Face Cambridge in Tideway Fixture

The Washington Huskies have been preparing to send a crew to England for a fixture against Cambridge, set for Saturday 16 February. The fixture will take place on the Tideway on the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race course (from Putney to Mortlake), and will presumably be broken into two parts. While it's not clear as of yet what crew CUBC will send to the line, there is evidence that the Washington squad will be a powerful foe for the Light Blues.

The above crew, shown here on 'Vintage Day' courtesy of Everett Rowing, is, quite frankly, stacked. From stern to bow, the Husky lineup appears to be this:

Coxswain: Lisa Caldwell, 2012 IRA winner in the frosh eight (new course record), and 2012 Henley winner in the Temple Challenge Cup
Stroke: Dusan Milovanovic, rowed on the 2010 undefeated Husky frosh eight, 2010 Henley winner, triple IRA champion in frosh eight (2010), second varsity eight (2011), and varsity eight (2012, new course record)
Seven: Henry Meek, 2012 IRA winner in the frosh eight (new course record), 2012 Henley winner in the Temple
Six: Conlin McCabe, 2011 IRA champion in the varsity eight, 2011 world bronze medalist in the Canadian men's eight, 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the Canadian men's eight (there's more but 'nuff said)
Five: Alex Bunkers, member of 2010 undefeated frosh eight, 2010 Henley winner in the Temple, 2011 and 2012 IRA champion in the varsity eight, 2011 (new world best time) and 2012 U23 world champion in the U.S. men's eight
Four: Marcus Bowyer, 2012 IRA champion in the frosh eight, 2012 Henley winner in the Temple Challenge Cup
Three: Sam Dommer, member of the 2010 undefeated frosh eight, 2010 Henley winner in the Temple Challenge Cup, 2012 IRA champion in the men's varsity eight
Two: Alexander Perkins, stroke of the 2012 Husky frosh eight that won IRAs and Henley (Temple)
Bow: Julian Svoboda, 2009 junior world bronze medalist in the Kiwi men's quad, 2012 IRA champion in the second varsity eight

The boat will be a good mix of youth and experience, centered on McCabe who has been training at the international level for the past 18 months-2 years. The question, as always, will be can the visiting crew adapt to both the unfamiliar environs and the 'unpredictable' nature of the Thames well enough to take on an opponent well versed in such things—albeit with limited experience on the actual course. (This may be behind the inclusion of several members of the 2012 Henley winning crew.) And, the Huskies will likely be looking across at a former teammate, as Ty Otto (who also rowed on the 2011 U.S. U23 men's eight) is in the mix at CUBC this season. Given all this, only one thing is certain—it's going to be exciting racing on the Tideway this weekend.

-RR

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