Crew | Windermere Cup tough to handicap

Halfway down the course today, the top-ranked Washington men's varsity crew and the 16th-ranked Huskies women's varsity will know whether their Windermere Cup opponents from New Zealand are either: a) fast; or, b) very fast.

The pair of UW's — the University of Washington and the University of Waikato — are featured in the men's and women's Windermere Cup races that include club eights from Purdue.

The varsity women race at 11:15 a.m., and the varsity men at 11:25 a.m. over the 2,000-meter course that starts in Lake Washington and ends in the Montlake Cut.

The varsity races conclude a 19-race rowing card of amateur and college crews that begins at 10:20 a.m. that precedes the annual opening-day yacht parade through the Cut that starts at noon.

Last year's Windermere Cup races were easier to handicap: The featured guests were Russian national men's and women's crews that were favored, older and faster than the Huskies. The Russians won.

These New Zealand crews are a meld of club rowing talent. The men's boat has five rowers with international experience, and the women's boat has two rowers from the national team.

Waikato was invited because the Huskies men rowed in "The Great Race" in New Zealand in the fall of 2005 against Waikato on a 4.1-mile river course, and UW coach Bob Ernst and Huskies rowers enjoyed themselves and the hospitality. Ernst wanted to reciprocate and also wants the UW to get invited back.

"The country is beautiful and the people are better," said Ernst at a Wednesday news conference.

Rowing is a club sport at Purdue, and the Boilermakers are expected to finish a distant third in each race. Ernst said it is increasingly difficult to attract crews from strong collegiate programs to Seattle in early May because many regional and conference championships are held the following weekend.

Note

• KJR (950 AM) is broadcasting the featured races, and there will be a live Webcast on GoHuskies.cstv.com.

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