With
a men’s program reaching 120 years in 2023, and a women’s program with 50
years of modern history (and another ten in early history), a timeline of
highlights is subjective at best. So please read this summary knowing these
are selections of a much broader and far more important historical picture.
When the original history was written in
2003 for the UW Rowing Centennial, it was deliberately written as a
continuing story, each year different but each year consistent and built on
the same foundation as the year before. That foundation was created by Hiram
Conibear and the men and women of those earliest years. The goal has been to
continue the theme that Washington Rowing is unique in many ways, but
particularly in the consistent values that drive the program and continue
today in our coaches and student-athletes that row at Washington.
This timeline does not touch on the deeply
human stories that define the program, and I urge anyone reading this
summary to read the more in depth history. We have one book – The Boys in
the Boat – that covers a small timeframe in the life of this program,
and yet every year and generation has similar stories, and students, and
coaches and leaders and every year could be a book. Some do not end as
successfully, but the reality is many do in their own way.
And then finally this: a timeline, as a
summary exercise, leaves years out. And yet every year has had a Washington
Varsity 8 and a 2V8 and other boats, and some of those years end with
national champions. Some end with west coast champions. Or amazing comeback
stories or stunningly bad luck. I have always felt that, if we could line up
every varsity 8 at their prime since our first in 1907… and have them race
2,000 meters… the winner would not be one of the favorites; it would just as
likely be some dark horse year that you will not find on the timeline
because at Washington, every Varsity 8 has high-level, dedicated athletes
developed under the same core values.
So take this as the summary exercise it is.
The real story of Washington Rowing, true since the very beginning, is the
opportunity - as George Pocock would say - for young people to reach for the
stars and succeed as a team together.
Note: The National Championship race
distance, the sponsoring organization, and number of events have all changed
multiple times since 1910. Today, for men, a national team champion is
awarded (known as the Ten Eyck Trophy) based on points earned in all IRA
events; however regardless of team results, the winner of the IRA
(Intercollegiate Rowing Association) Varsity 8 race is considered the
National Champion. That was also true for the women’s national championships
through 1996; however in 1997, when the NCAA began governing the women’s
sport, the officially recognized National Champion became the combined team
(V8, 2V8, V4) with the highest point total, and not the Varsity 8 race.
One of the
real advantages to publishing on the web is the flexibility to add new
material, and the ability to include videos, and audio interviews. The
downside to publishing on the web is the ease to which material can
plagiarized or used
without consent. Please respect the effort and time that our contributors
have put into this body of work, and if using any material published here,
please contact us first.
All written and audio
content on this page, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and written by
Eric Cohen. For
questions, comments, or history additions, please contact us at: webdev (at)
huskycrew.org. Thank you.
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1895:
The University of Washington moves from downtown Seattle to the new location
between Lake Washington (to the east) and Lake Union (to the west). Rowing
was taking place by 1896, with various official “start” dates, including
1896, 1899 and 1901. The first Class Day race took place in 1901, along with
a “colleges” race (Forestry; vs. Arts and Sciences; vs. Engineering, etc). |
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1903:
Team rows/trains out of Union Bay (Lake Washington) boathouse; first
intercollegiate race and the beginning of varsity rowing at Washington;
racing in 4-oared wide body shells (wherries), the UW races California on
Lake Washington in Seattle and wins. |
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1907:
Hiram Conibear arrives: Hired by the UW as a trainer for the football and
track teams from the Chicago White Sox, he was asked to fill the vacant
rowing coach role (for which he had no experience); he accepted, and the
sport became his passion. Conibear re-developed the rowing stroke and
permanently changed the sport; is one of only a handful of coaches that
influenced rowing globally to the degree he did. At Washington, he set the
foundation for the program (Rowing Stewards, Women’s Rowing, Varsity Boat
Club and more) that still exists today. |
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1907 -1917: Women’s
rowing at Washington: the only public university in the nation with a
consistent women’s rowing program at the time. A thorn in the side of upper
campus (who considered rowing “too rigorous” for women), and yet the program
was one of the most popular on campus for women.
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1909:
The team moves into the Alaska Yukon Exposition lighthouse building (after
the fair was over) on Lake Union; Varsity Boat Club established. |
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1912:
Dick and George Pocock, at the behest of Conibear, move from Vancouver BC to
Seattle and set up shop on Portage Bay. Photo: thank you Al Mackenzie
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1913: First
National Championship (IRA) competition for Washington at Poughkeepsie, NY;
finishing 3rd and establishing Washington as a legitimate national
contender.
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1915:
First 8-oared shell built for the women’s team, by George and Dick Pocock,
named the “1915 Co-ed”. |
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1917:
Hiram Conibear dies tragically; WWI starts and the campus is depleted of
men; Pococks hired by Boeing; west coast rowing is upended and barely
survives, women’s rowing cancelled. |
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1919: Ed
Leader assumes the head coaching role and makes a deal with the Navy and
upper campus to move into the vacated Navy Hangar on the new (1917) Montlake
Cut. That hangar-turned-shellhouse is being restored by the UW in the next
three years; a replica will be featured prominently in The Boys in the
Boat movie. |
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1922: Ed
Leader leaves for Yale; Rusty Callow (a major influence on Washington
Rowing) becomes head coach; George Pocock is convinced by Callow to leave
Boeing and return to the UW to pursue his passion of building shells (in a
shop built for him by Callow in the ASUW shellhouse); Pocock said he was
“forsaking the substance and grasping the shadow”. |
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1923:
First IRA Varsity 8 National Championship in Washington history; first west
coast team to win the IRA. |
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1924: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions |
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1926: IRA
Varsity 8 and JV8 National Champions, first two-boat win at the IRA for
Washington |
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1928:
Callow leaves for Penn; Al Ulbrickson (stroke of the 1924-1926 V8) becomes
head coach |
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1933:
Undefeated Varsity 8 wins the first collegiate 2,000m National Championship
at Long Beach, CA over Yale, Cornell, and Harvard |
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1936:
Olympic Champions in the Eight at the Berlin Olympics; The Boys in the
Boat; first sweep (Freshmen, JV, Varsity 8’s) of the IRA by any
university in the history of collegiate rowing |
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1937: Varsity 8
National Champions and another IRA sweep
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1940 and 1941:
Dominant Varsity 8 National Champions both years |
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1948:
Varsity 8 National Champions and another IRA sweep; Stern 4 of the JV8 win
the US Trials as coxed 4+; the team goes on to win Olympic Gold in London in
the coxed 4+ |
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1949/50:
Team moves out of the ASUW Shellhouse and into the new Conibear Shellhouse
at the current location |
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1950:
Varsity 8 National Champions and another IRA sweep; 4th sweep by the UW;
everyone else, zero |
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1952:
Ulbrickson focuses on the coxed 4 with four of his top varsity rowers at the
US Olympic Trials and it pays off: the team wins and goes on to win Olympic
bronze at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. |
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1959: Al
Ulbrickson retires; Fil Leanderson (’52 Olympic bronze medalist) becomes
Head Coach |
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1965:
Additional housing wing completed at Conibear Shellhouse where the men would
live together under the VBC banner for 30 years; Big W painted on the dock
apron; men make stunning reversal to sweep west coast championships |
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1968: Dick
Erickson becomes men’s head coach, with a focus on international travel;
women form a varsity club team under Coach Bernie Delke and row out of the
old ASUW shellhouse |
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1970: First
“Opening Day” crew races in conjunction with the Seattle Yacht Club down the
Montlake Cut; IRA Varsity 8 National Champions and IRA Team Champions; Men’s
4+ win US Trials and represent USA at the World Championships; Women’s club
team wins National Championship in the Lightweight 4+, the first
championship won by the women |
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1971: Men
win US Pan Am Trials in the Men’s 8; take the silver medal rowing as the USA
at the Pan Am games in Cali, Colombia in the Men’s 8; UW women’s club
lightweight 8 and 4+ win NWRA National Championships |
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1972: Title
IX becomes law; UW women’s club lightweight 8 and quad win NWRA National
Championships |
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1973: Dick
Erickson foregoes the IRA (the Varsity would not return to the IRA for over
twenty years) and takes the men’s team to Henley, continuing his emphasis on
international competition; UW women’s club lightweight 8 and 4+ win NWRA
National Championships under the coaching of Colleen Lynch and Paula
Mitchell |
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1975:
Women’s Rowing becomes a varsity sport at Washington; John Lind named head
coach |
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1977:
Washington men win the Visitors’ Cup and the Grand Challenge Cup (over the
British National Team) at Henley; Varsity 8 consensus National Champions;
women join the VBC |
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1978: Men’s
Varsity 8 consensus National Champions; First of six trips to Egypt that
Erickson would take his top rowers for the “Festival of Oars” in Cairo,
Egypt |
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1981: Bob
Ernst takes the helm of the Washington Women and begins the first of five
NWRA Varsity 8 National Championships in a row (still unprecedented) from
81-85; women’s Varsity 8 and 2V8 win National Titles; undefeated men’s
Varsity 8 consensus National Champions; men’s JV8 wins Ladies’ Plate at
Henley |
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1982:
Dominant women’s team wins Varsity 8 and 2V8 NWRA National Championships
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1983:
Women’s Varsity 8 wins NWRA National Championship |
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1984: Men
win Cincinnati Collegiate National Championship Varsity 8; Women’s Varsity 8
wins NWRA National Championship; Bob Ernst coaches Women’s Team USA 8 to
Olympic Gold in LA including three UW rowers |
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1985:
Women’s Varsity 8 wins NWRA National Championship |
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1987: The
inaugural “Windermere Cup”, featuring the Soviet Union’s top men’s and
women’s teams racing the Huskies in front of a large crowd lining the Cut;
Women’s Varsity 8 wins US Rowing National Championship; Washington Women
sweep the National Championships (V8, 2V8, V4+), first time in history by
any team |
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1988:
Women win US Rowing Varsity 8 National Championship; Bob Ernst replaces Dick
Erickson as men’s head coach; Jan Harville takes the helm of the women
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1997: Men’s
Varsity 8 National Champions and a sweep of the IRA’s for the 5th time;
Women win the inaugural NCAA Varsity 8 race and the NCAA team title – the
first NCAA team title in any sport in UW history |
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1998: Women
win NCAA Team National Championship and Varsity 8 wins NCAA National
Championship |
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2000: Women
win inaugural Henley Prize (now called the Remenham Cup) at Henley for top
women’s eights |
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2001: Women
win NCAA Team Championship and Varsity 8 wins NCAA National Championship
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2002: Women
win Varsity 8 and 2V8 NCAA Championships |
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2003: Men’s
Varsity 8 wins the Ladies’ Plate at Henley in the Centennial Year of the
program; Jan Harville retires, Eleanor MacElvaine becomes women’s head coach
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2007: IRA
Men’s Varsity 8 National Champions and Team Champions, beginning an
unprecedented streak of nine Ten Eyck Team Championships in a row from
2007-2015; Varsity wins the Moscow Race of Champions in Russia over
Cambridge, Oxford and Moscow State University |
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2008: Bob
Ernst switches back to women’s head coach; Michael Callahan elevated to
men’s head coach; Women win NCAA Varsity 4 National Championship; team
finishes 2nd in the NCAA |
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2009: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions and the 6th eights sweep in UW history |
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2010:
Washington men’s undefeated freshmen win the Temple Cup at Henley |
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2011: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions; 2V8, V4+, O4+ also gold |
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2012: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions and the first five-event sweep in the history
of the IRA: O4+, V4+, F8, 2V8, V8 all gold; 7th eights sweep in UW history;
V8 row a 5:21 in the Final, the fastest time in IRA and UW history and 2
seconds off the World Record; Washington Freshmen win the Temple Cup at
Henley |
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2013: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions and the second five-event sweep in the history
of the IRA: O4+, V4+, F8, 2V8, V8 all gold; 8th eights sweep in UW history
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2014: Men
are IRA Varsity 8 National Champions; Women’s Varsity 8 invited to the
Gallagher Great Race on the Waikato River in New Zealand, and win in an
upset victory over Waikato University |
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2015: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions and the third five-event sweep in the history
of the IRA: O4+, V4+, F8, 2V8, V8 all gold; 9th eights sweep in UW history;
only team in history to win the IRA V8 championship 5 years in a row; UW V4+
wins Prince Albert Cup at Henley; Yaz Farooq replaces Bob Ernst as Women’s
head coach |
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2017:
Washington women win the NCAA National Championship in a sweep (V4, 2V8, V8
all gold), unprecedented in the history of the NCAA championships |
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2018: Women win
NCAA 2V8 National Championship; team finishes 2nd in the NCAA; UW men win
the Temple Cup at Henley
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2019:
Washington women are National Champions and repeat the sweep at the NCAA’s;
the UW is the only team to sweep the Women’s National Championships and they
have done it 3 times: 1987, 2017, and 2019 |
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2021: IRA
Varsity 8 National Champions and a four-event sweep (the Open 4+ was dropped
from the regatta); V4+, 3V8, 2V8, V8 all gold; 10th eights sweep in UW
history; Women win NCAA V4+ and 2V8; finish 3rd in NCAA team standings
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2022: UW
men win the Visitors’ Cup at Henley |
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