At Windermere Cup, a new kind of rowing rivalry

The Washington State Cougars are the usual target of verbal potshots on the University of Washington campus. But on Saturday, a Huskies male rower from Australia took a good-natured swipe at his rival city Down Under.

Husky Toby Dankbaar noticed that most of the rowers on the women's crew from the University of Melbourne were from Melbourne itself.

So when it came his turn with the microphone at the Windermere Cup awards ceremony, instead of just giving his name, major and hometown, he editorialized.

"I'm from the greatest Australian city: Sydney," he declared.

The Melbourne rowers took the joust good-naturedly and laughed.

Got a spare?

A Polish spare, Richard Abiewski, rowed in the Pocock Rowing Center open-eight boat that was without a rower because of illness.

"I don't know how much English he speaks, but he can jump in a boat anytime," noted Michelle Day, a regatta official who has helped with visiting crews for years.

Pocock finished second to a Huskies entry in the three-boat race.

Two Melbourne spares joined with two UW alumni and rowed in the women's varsity four event. NCAA rules prevented them from teaming with UW athletes who hadn't graduated.

This one sticks

One of the day's most satisfying victories was by the Martha's Moms Rowing Club in the 50-and-over women's race.

Last year, the Moms crossed the finish line first but their celebrating stopped when they returned to the shellhouse to learn they had been disqualified for a lane violation.

This time, the victory stood.

Notes

• Absent from the Opening Day Regatta this year were crews from smaller Northwest colleges. That was because the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Sacramento were on the same day.

• Navy men's coach Rick Clothier is a former UW coxswain and he preceded Bob Ernst as UW men's freshman coach. "It's wonderful being back here, very nostalgic," Clothier said. "I cut my teeth here as a coxswain, coached here for five years, then went off to the Naval Academy. So I do love coming back."

• Navy rowers and fans were well-fed at the crewhouse because the Washington chapter of the academy's parents club had a food tent.

• The next regatta for the Huskies will be the Pac-10 championships May 18 in Rancho Cordova, Calif.