Husky men’s rowing team holding heads high after second place finish at IRA championships
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — Their mantra was a simple one: Keep your mind between the gunwales, or in layman’s terms, keep your head in the boat. It’s how the University of Washington’s men’s rowing team preferred it all season. Whereas other teams liked to hype themselves with yells and screams during launch and warmups, the Huskies kept a quiet demeanor and collective stoic body language.
That determination and focus paid off on Sunday, on the 120th anniversary of the National Championship Regatta at Mercer Lake, when the Huskies, entering the finals ranked No. 4, took second behind defending national champion California in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA)national championship.
In addition to the winning varisty eight boat, Cal took first in overal points with 288, followed by Washington (273), Yale (253), Princeton (236) and Harvard (233).
In the first varsity eight, the final race of the day, the Huskies gave Cal its biggest scare this year, taking second in 5 minutes, 32.960 seconds, a mere 1.24 seconds off Cal’s winning time of 5:31.716.
“I feel like these guys made a lot of correct decisions this whole year; their work ethic, their attitude and their camaraderie with each other, you see how close these guys are across our whole boathouse,” said UW coach Michael Callahan, who just completed his 16th season. “I think having our best race on the last day is what we shoot for and we did that, especially the heavyweight eight. There is a lot of trust in that boat.
“It was a good (last race). We were chasing Cal the whole way and we tried to get a little closer a little earlier, to get within striking range, but they were superior. Hats off to them. I do leave satisfied this year, because I know that our guys gave their best effort and rowed for each other. They took a lot of risks in the last race and stayed together.”
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Washington did not unravel.
Cal led the first varsity eight from start to finish, though the Golden Bears got pushed. It was a tight pack at the outset, when Cal, which was returning all nine from its national championship team, took a lead after the first 500-meter mark. Washington then made a move to second, with Cal holding a four-seat edge. The Huskies, in lane six, got within three feet of Cal in the second 500. In the third 500, Cal began increasing its lead, while Washington stayed close. Princeton then pushed, with Washington on Cal’s tail, four seats off.
In the final 500, Cal took first, with the Huskies, comprised of coxswain Nick Dunlop, stroke Darcy McCluskey, Jack Walkey, Logan Ullrich, Povilas Juskevicius, Joel Cullen, Blake Bradshaw, Cameron Tasker and bow Max Heid, staved off Princeton (5:34.882) for second.
“ We were the quietest boat and we would not have wanted it any other way.
“Our biggest thing was head between the gunwales on that last race,” said Heid, the only local on the Huskies’ first varsity eight out of Seattle Prep. “We achieved that very well. Our goal was to race our race for each other. We have so much trust within this team and in that boat, our heads were not down. Coming off the water, it was hard to let it go. These guys are my brothers. We raced our race as well as we possibly could have. We’re proud of that.”
Like Heid, Walkey rowed his final race wearing Washington purple. Walkey, however, has plans on trying out for the U.S. national team and make a push for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“It hasn’t hit me yet, this being my last race, I love this team and this family, it’s a little surreal right now,” Walkey said. “We focused all year on keeping our minds in the boat and not get distracted by outside factors. Every boat has a different approach. Not just our boat, but Washington as a whole, we try to stay humble and let our actions do the talking.
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“The last four years have flown by, that’s for sure. It’s a pretty crazy team, a brotherhood and culture, and I can’t speak highly enough about the team and of coach Michael Callahan. This is a pretty special place. We definitely turned it around from last year and we built that momentum up for the guys to carry next year.”
Dunlop saw this team evolve from when they first put their boats in the water in late September until Sunday. It’s a team that relied heavily on silent resilience.
“This was a pretty special team to be a part of, because I was evolving myself as the season went on,” said Dunlop, a junior from Sydney, Australia. “We really pride ourselves as the guys on top of the program having suction, pulling guys up, and the guys at the bottom really pushing up as well. We had a tunnel vision and blocked out whatever was going on outside of the boat.
“We know a lot about the teams here, particularly on the East Coast how they love to be loud when they’re launching and, on the warmup, which is great for them. We just know that is not how we operate. We were the quietest boat and we would not have wanted it any other way.”
Source: The Seattle Times
