University of Washington
Head of the Charles
Huskies Turn Head Of The Charles Regatta Purple With Two Gold Medals
October 19, 2025 | Men's Rowing
The Washington men's rowing team opened the 2025-26 season with an excellent performance at the 60th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, winning the Collegiate Division in the Championship Eights while defending its crown with a win in the Championship Fours.
The UW four finished atop a field of 12 crews, edging a crew from Princeton, while the Husky eight, made up entirely of returning UW upperclassmen, finished about 1.5 seconds behind an entry from Cambridge University (U.K.), in a field of 30 crews, but first among all U.S. college crews.
The Head of the Charles is a head race (time trials, where crews start incrementally and race against the clock) held on a winding, three-mile course on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge.
In the eights race, UW had the best time at the first of the four checkpoints along the river, but at the second and third milestones, Cambridge's time was slightly faster. At the finish the Cambridge boat's time was 13:41.692, just over 1.5 seconds ahead of Washington's 13.43.240. Harvard finished third.
As the top U.S. college finisher in the Championship Eights Field, Washington was awarded the College Championship.
A Varsity Boat Club crew of UW alumni also raced in the Championship 8+ event. That crew, which was comprised entirely of athletes with senior national team experience, including five Olympians, finished in fourth place (13:50.581).
The Husky four, competing in a field of 12 entries, won its race in 15:15:844, only about a half of a second ahead of second-place Princeton A, which completed the course in 15:16:366, with another 13-plus seconds back to third-place University of British Columbia.
Princeton passed the first three of the race course's four benchmarks with a faster time than Washington, and was on a pace two seconds faster than the Huskies heading into the final portion of the race. But, the Huskies' sprint was fast enough to win.
Washington also won the Championship Fours in 2024, the program's first-ever victory in that particular event at Head of the Charles.
Additionally, several UW alumni competed in various race categories on Saturday.
Logan Ullrich, a senior in UW's IRA National Champion varsity eight last spring and a silver medalist at the 2024 Olympics, finished fifth in the Championship Singles. In the women's Championship Singles, UW alum and 2025 World Championships gold medalist Teal Cohen was ninth.
In the women's Championship Doubles, 2024 Olympic medalist Tabea Schendekehl and her double partner finished third in a field of 22.
Washington crews fared well in the men's and women's alumni races. Among 52 crews in the women's Alumnae Eights, Washington finished in third place. In the men's event, the Huskies were forth in a field of 48.
Washington Lineups:
Men's Championship Fours:
Coxswain: Victor Bocquet
Stroke: Rory McDonnell
3: Klas Ole Lass
2: Ewan Morrow
Bow: Ethan Walsh
Men's Championship Eights:
Coxswain: Nikita Jacobs
Stroke: Ryan Martin
7: Lyle Donovan
6: Giuseppe Bellomo
5: Povilas Juskevicius
4: Ben Shortt
3: Lucas Andersen
2: Ryan Smith
Bow: Sam Ford
On-water photos by Benedict Tufnell
Players Mentioned
