Windermere Cup: Restructured UW proves tough

After a week in which the personnel in Washington's men's varsity boat was shuffled more than a deck of cards at a casino, there was a happy ending yesterday.

The fourth-ranked Huskies won the Windermere Cup by beating the under-23 national crew from the Czech Republic and Cornell.

Rowing before thousands of spectators in the annual regatta held in conjunction with the opening day of yachting season, the Huskies covered the 2,000-meter course from Lake Washington through the Montlake Cut in 5 minutes, 41.7 seconds.

The Czechs were nearly a length behind in 5:44.5, and ninth-ranked Cornell finished in 5:49.72.

"This is a good win," said Washington coach Bob Ernst, who had moved four junior-varsity rowers into the boat and switched the seats of two other oarsmen in pursuit of speed.

"Our pace in the middle of the course was what we were most concerned about today," said Ernst, who got what he wanted with a strong 36-strokes-a-minute pace.

Among the changes made for the race was insertion of a coxswain and stroke who never had been in the varsity boat on race day. The new coxswain was senior Stephen Hertzfeld from Bethesda, Md., and the stroke was junior Kiel Petersen of Poulsbo, who has lost 60 pounds since showing up as an overweight freshman.

No one was more excited about the triumph than Petersen's mother, Randi Strong-Petersen.

"When he was 5 years old, we were told he would never play sports because of his asthma," she said as she positioned herself to take photos at the awards ceremony.

"I said, 'You're just a doctor. We'll figure this out.' "

Hertzfeld said, "We had six seniors in the boat. It was the last trip through the Cut and the last home race for us."

The coxswain said the one subpar section of the race was the sprint in the final 500 meters.

"I think we can work on our sprint next week; we're going to need to for next weekend (Pac-10 championships) against Cal." California is the only crew to beat the Huskies this season.

In the featured women's race, the heavily favored Czech Republic crew won in 6:23.44. Twelfth-ranked Washington was second in 6:32.17, and Cornell was third in 6:39.23. Almost all the Czech rowers are expected to make the country's 2008 Olympic team, a statement that doesn't apply to the male Czech entry yesterday.

"We are happy with the race," said Olivia Morrow, a Huskies junior who rowed in the No. 2 seat (next to bow). "We got a length up at the start. ... We are making steps every week."

In the women's junior-varsity race, the UW women had the satisfaction of a "double-avenge" victory over Washington State. Last year, the Cougars snapped a 13-year Huskies win streak in the JV event on opening day, and the Cougars defeated the Huskies last month on the Snake River.

Yesterday, the UW JV boat won in 6:39.72. The Cougars were second in 6:44.24, and Western Washington, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II rankings, was third in 7:04.11.

The undefeated UW junior varsity won the men's Cascade Cup in 5:49.92. Cornell was second in 5:54.61 and the No. 1 UW frosh boat, which "opted up" in search of better competition, was third in 5:58.03.

A special event yesterday was a pairs race between two sets of rowers from the gold-medal U.S. eight at the 2004 Olympics.

Ex-Husky Matt Deakin and Bryan Volpenhein, who are assisting the UW program, edged Daniel Beery and Beau Hoopman by less than a second (6:48.06 to 6:48.83) in the closest race of the day.

The winning boat hit a buoy with about 700 meters to go when the pairs were even, but Deakin-Volpenhein recovered and won with a final sprint. Deakin suffered a minor abrasion to his right shin when his oar struck the shin when the boat hit the buoy.

Volpenhein, who as the stroke is responsible for steering, called hitting the buoy a "terrible mistake on my part." However, this was only an exhibition race and the mood among the three other Olympians seemed to be amusement and mild delight that they could give Volpenhein a hard time about his navigational skills.

All four Olympic rowers are exploring pairs as a way to make the 2008 Olympic team, but Deakin said U.S. coach Mike Teti has shown interest in them collectively as a possible four-without-coxswain entry.

Some fans along the Montlake Cut shouted "USA! USA!" during the stretch run for what was the closest finish of the day.

Yesterday morning's regatta was rowed in sweater-weather and the crowd wasn't as big as sunnier years. Still, the mood was festive for the 20-race card that included youth and masters events. The Huskies band played at the finish line.

"We came out here because it's such a unique race — it's a festival, it's crazy," said Cornell men's coach Dan Roock. "We never have a chance to do this sort of thing anywhere else."

Notes

• The regatta was a homecoming for a Cornell rower and a woman coxswain who grew up miles apart on the Eastside.

Tyler Davis, a sophomore who graduated from Mercer Island High School, stroked the Cornell varsity. Taylor Reiss, a sophomore who graduated from International School in Bellevue, was the men's junior-varsity coxswain.

• The Holy Names Academy crew was impressive in winning the girls high-school eight race in 6:53.22. Holy Names beat crews from Sammamish Rowing Association, Rose City Rowing and Brentwood School.

• Gonzaga won the women's novice eight race in 6:57.61, finishing ahead of boats from the UW and WSU.

• For the row from Portage Bay near the Seattle Yacht Club back to the Conibear Shellhouse, one Western Washington women's crew broke out party hats while an Oregon four wore large straw fiesta hats.

• The Windermere Cup fireworks show Friday night in Union Bay drew a good crowd and good response and appears likely to be repeated next year.

• At the awards ceremony, Ondrej Hiavicka, who rowed bow for the Czech Republic, drew applause when he shouted, "I love Seattle!"

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com