UW Wins Men's Championship Eights At 2021 Head Of The Charles

BOSTON – Washington's varsity eight, in third place at the last checkpoint prior to the finish line, rallied late to win the men's championship eights at the 57th Head of the Charles Regatta Sunday, bringing home the trophy for the fifth time in program history.
 
The Huskies overcame both Dartmouth and Yale in the final portion of the three-mile time trial on the Charles River. The UW also won the Head of the Charles men's championships eights in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2016. The regatta, which featured 70 race categories over three days this year, was not held in 2020.
 
"It was great to have our community – UW rowing and the entire rowing community – back together again," said UW men's head coach Michael Callahan. "It was exciting to get to race two eights [UW's second varsity eight finished 11th], and both of them performed very well."
 
Washington's varsity eight led the race at the first checkpoint, the Riverside Boat Club, by about a half-second over Dartmouth and nearly three seconds over Yale, which was the first crew to start the time trial. However, by the Weld Boathouse, Dartmouth had moved atop the field with the fastest split, a little over one second in front of the Huskies. 
 
At the Cambridge Boat House checkpoint, the last milestone before the finish, the Big Green still had the best time, though Yale had moved into second, ahead of the UW. Washington trailed Dartmouth by nearly a second and a half.
 
But, Washington, with coxswain Zach Casler making his debut in the varsity shell, made up the gap both boats in the final portion of the race, crossing the finish line with a time of 13:59.432. Dartmouth finished second in 14:01.513, and Yale was third in 14:02.459.
 
"It was a really competitive race, with positions being traded down the course," said Callahan. "We're very proud to have been able to come out on top in such a strong field."
 
Washington's second varsity eight finished in 11th place, in 14:35.045, just ahead of Yale's second entry. The Huskies' second shell was the second-best finisher among JV crews. [Note: originally, Harvard's JV was assessed a penalty, which was later rescinded; it was originally reported that UW's 2V8+ finished 10th overall and first among JV boats.]
 
Also on Sunday, two UW alums picked up a win in the men's championship fours as both Andrew Gaard and Pieter Quinton were in a U.S. National Team crew that won its race, just in front of another U.S. crew.
 
On Saturday, Washington alumni had success in a variety of races, highlighted by 2020 U.S. Olympian Ben Davison, who won the men's championship single sculls for the second time, having also earned a victory in 2018. He finished ahead of former UW teammates Chris Carlson and Ezra Carlson (no relation), who finished third and fifth, respectively, in the 21-man field.
 
Washington also earned a win in the men's alumni eights as a crew of former UW oarsmen out-paced 45 other alumni crews.
 
Two-time U.S. Paralympian Danielle Hansen finished sixth the women's championship double, while a crew of Washington alumnae took fourth place -- out of 47 competitors -- in the women's alumnae eight event.
 
Also during the regatta, UW alum Charlie Clapp '81, a 1984 U.S. Olympian who won silver in the men's eight, was inducted into the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame along with his American crew.
 
"We are still really grateful and joyful that we are able to get to race again," Callahan said, referring to the cancellations caused by the pandemic. "It was a terrific weekend."
 
Next for the UW men and women is the Head of the Lake on Sunday, Nov. 7. The annual event (also not held in 2020) starts on Seattle's Lake Union, and the course runs through the ship canal and the Montlake Cut before finishing on Lake Washington.
 
WASHINGTON HEAD OF THE CHARLES LINEUPS:
 
Varsity Eight – Bow 4
Grand Challenger
Cox: Zach Casler
Stroke: Steve Rosts
7: Peter Lancashire 
6: Jack Walkey
5: Simon van Dorp
4: Gert-Jan van Doorn
3: Logan Ullrich
2: Adam Krol
Bow: Nils Vorberg
 
Second Varsity Eight – Bow 18
Shell: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Adam Gold
Stroke: Robert Pluijmert 
7: Sebastian Ritter
6: Harry Fitzpatrick 
5: Mattijs Holler
4: Cormac Kennedy-Leverett
3: Alex Gonin
2: Pablo Matan
Bow: Giulio Acernese