Close racing at the Windermere Cup

The BROOKES|Rowing Men’s 1st VIII recently returned from a week-long trip to Seattle, where they were invited by the University of Washington to take part in this year’s Windermere Cup.

The race took place on the world-renowned Montlake Cut between Oxford Brookes, the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. It is one of the highlights of the collegiate rowing calendar, with recent competitors including New Zealand, China and Great Britain. This year’s race was dubbed the “World Series” of university rowing because it featured the top crews from Britain, Canada and the United States. 

The race itself, which can be found here, started with a huge push by UW to edge into a lead of just under a length at the 500m mark. Brookes held onto them through the middle 1000m whilst moving away from UBC, before stepping through significantly coming into the last few hundred meters of the race. 

A courageous final wind saw Brookes almost push up onto Washington, but were cut short, eventually losing out to the Huskies by 0.457s. This is the second closest race in the 32 year history of the race- quite a spectacle for the spectators of Seattle’s Opening Day of Boating Season. Brookes finished in a time of 5:36.239 to Washington’s 5:35.782.

“It was an unreal experience and something very special to take part in. We are obviously disappointed with the result, but there are many lessons to be learned for the regatta season ahead”– Henry Swarbrick, 7 seat

The race puts BROOKES|Rowing at the forefront of World University rowing- Washington are currently the No.1 ranked US crew and have a number of national titles throughout the last few years. 

The Men’s Eight, with the rest of the men’s and women’s squads next race at Ghent Regatta, this weekend (12-13 May).