Washington Sweeps All Four Races At Oregon State
LOWELL, Ore. – The Washington men's rowing team won all four races against Oregon State Saturday morning at Dexter Lake, winning in the first, second and third varsity eights, and in the varsity four.
The regatta was the UW men's first intercollegiate event since the fall of 2019 and marked the beginning of the 2021 competitive season. Six Husky sophomores donned the W for the first time, including two in the varsity eight: stroke rower Jack Walkey and two-seat Adam Krol.
"We appreciate the opportunity to race today against OSU," Washington men's head coach Michael Callahan said. "After all the time, we've tried to remain cautious about getting too excited that we were really going to be able to compete this year. It's fulfilling to be on the water, going head to head against another program.
"We are also grateful for Oregon State's commitment to train safely and getting to a place where we can race each other," Callahan continued. "They've been going through all of the same trials as we have and we want to take a moment to recognize them."
In the varsity eight race, both crews opened at a high rate and were even early on. By about 500 meters, however, the Huskies, coxed by senior Adam Gold, had opened up a lead of a full boat-length. By 1,500 meters, the UW varsity's lead had stretched to a couple lengths of open water. Washington won the race with a time of 5:54.8. OSU crossed in 6:13.6.
The second varsity eight race went similarly, as the Huskies broke out to an early lead, taking a full length by the 500-meter mark. That crew, coxed by Zach Casler and stroked by Nils Vorberg, won its race by a larger margin than the varsity, finishing with a time of 5:58.1, 27 seconds ahead of the Beavers.
In the third varsity eights race, Washington's crew, coxed by Thomas Wenk and stroked by Seattleite Jeffrey Theirs, gained an open-water lead in the first 500 and increased that advantage over the 2,000-meter course. The UW boat won with a time of 6:16.1, more than 27 seconds in front of OSU.
The varsity four race included four Husky crews, three of them consisting of athletes who had competed earlier in the first and second varsity eights races. Three of the four Washington boats remained in close contact throughout the 2,000 meters and finished within seven seconds of each other.
The UW "C" crew – manned by senior George Esau, Samuel Halbert and Gert-Jan van Doorn along with grad student Pieter Quinton and junior coxswain Nicole Gooding – won the race in a time of 6:46.3, about three seconds ahead of the "C" boat, with Mattijs Holler in the stroke seat. The Huskies' "D" entry (all of whom were in the 2V8+ boat) was third, and the "A" crew finished fourth, ahead of Oregon State's varsity four.
"The joy of being on the water and competing is hard to quantify," Callahan said. "It feels like a spring and everyone has a lot of hope right now. We're not just a training team; we're a racing team. That's why we train so hard – to show what we can do on race days and we did that today!"
Washington has two weeks to prepare for its next race as the Huskies will travel to Redwood Shores for a dual regatta vs. Stanford on April 17.
UW LINEUPS vs. OREGON STATE
Varsity Eight
Shell: Grand Challenger
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Jack Walkey (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
7: Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Grant/Harvard)
6: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
5: Peter Lancashire (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
4: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, The Netherlands)
3: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
2: Adam Krol (Toronto, Ont., Canada)
Bow: Samuel Halbert (Redmond, Wash./Woodinville)
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Zach Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Nils Vorberg (Hamburg, Germany)
7: Steve Rosts (Jordon, Ont., Canada)
6: Ian Engstrom (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
5: Felix Reinhold (Cape Town, South Africa)
4: David Bridges (Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
3: Paolo Bifulco (Portland, Ore./Lincoln)
2: Sebastian Ritter (Regensburg, Germany)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth Australia)
Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz II
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Stroke: Jeffrey Thiers (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
7: Max Heid (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)
6: Max Mason (Redmond, Wash./Redmond)
5: Jack Premzic (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior)
4: Chase Barrows (Snohomish, Wash./Archbishop Murphy)
3: Austin Regier (Burien, Wash./Mount Rainier)
2: Pablo Matan (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep)
Bow: Colin Kwiecinski (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Varsity Four A
Shell: Little Husky
Stroke: Matt Peters (Reading, England, U.K.)
3: Michael Thiers (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)
2: Sebastian Ritter (Regensburg, Germany)
Bow: Chandler Kovacevich (Snohomish, Wash./Monroe)
Cox: Isabel Klein (Seattle, Wash./University Prep)
Varsity Four B
Shell: USA 1
Stroke: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
3: Jack Walkey (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
2: Peter Lancashire (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
Bow: Adam Krol (Toronto, Ont., Canada)
Cox: Max Schwartzkopff (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Varsity Four C
Shell: USA 2
Stroke: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
3: Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Grant/Harvard)
2: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, The Netherlands)
Bow: Samuel Halbert (Redmond, Wash./Woodinville)
Cox: Nicole Gooding (Portland, Ore./Lakeridge)
Varsity Four D
Stroke: Steve Rosts (Jordon, Ont., Canada)
3: Ian Engstrom (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
2: Nils Vorberg (Hamburg, Germany)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth Australia)
Cox: Zach Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)