UW to Host Cambridge for 25th Windermere Cup This Weekend on Montlake Cut



The No. 1 ranked Husky men and No. 7 UW women will host Cambridge this weekend, at this year's edition of the Windermere Cup in Seattle. The UW varsity men are scheduled to face No. 11 Stanford, as well as a crew from Cambridge University Boat Club for their cup race on Saturday, while the Husky women will tackle the Sooners (fresh from their second place finish at the Big 12 Championships) and CUBC. In recent racing, the UW men defeated Cal in the Varsity 8, 2V, and V4 events, while the Bears took an open water victory in the Frosh 8. The UW women found the racing a little hot against Cal, as the now No. 1 ranked Bears (tied with Princeton atop the most recent CRCA/USRowing Coaches' Poll) swept the Huskies.

The international crews, while they will row to a high standard and certainly contain talented athletes, will not be on par with UW, as the CUBC men peaked for their 4.5 mile race against Oxford roughly six weeks ago, and are just now putting the lineup together in Washington after some seat racing amongst those who could make the trip (a mixture of Goldie and Blue Boat oarsmen). The Cambridge academic year is in the middle of Easter Term, which may prevent some of the top athletes from attending. The CUWBC will likely be a similar mixture, though they have the advantage of having prepared to race (close) to the right distance, as the Women's Boat Race takes place on the Henley Royal Regatta course. However, they too peaked in late March for their event. UW, on the other hand, is building once again for the height of Spring season, with Pac-10s just around the corner.  While the Sooners will throw down everything they've got in their first-ever invite to the event, look for both UW crews to dominate this weekend, particularly on the men's side.

For more information on the event, visit the official site of the Huskies. Also, in case you missed it, here's the transcript from the live chat with UW Coaches Michael Callahan and Bob Ernst that took place yesterday (Wednesday, May 4th), via The Seattle Times.

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