University of Washington
Harvard – Bolles Cup
No. 1 Huskies Win Bolles & Paup Cups On Day One At Sarasota
March 27, 2026 | Men's Rowing
SARASOTA, Fla. – The No. 1-ranked Washington men's rowing team opened the 2026 season by earning the Bolles Cup and the Paup Cup with wins over No. 2 Harvard and No. 8 Stanford, on day one of the Sarasota 2K at Nathan Benderson Park.
On the day, Washington won three of four races – the varsity eight and second varsity eight vs. both Harvard and Stanford, and the fourth varsity eight vs. Harvard and Brown. Washington finished second in the third varsity eight.
The two cups were contested in the varsity eight race. Last year, Washington and Harvard finished first and second in the Intercollege Rowing Association national championship final, with the Huskies winning by just under one second.
On Friday, Washington's top crew took the lead from the start of the race, but Harvard kept close contact throughout, never trailing by more than a half-length or so. The Husky eight passed the 1,000-meter halfway point with a 1.2 second lead over the Crimson and, over the final half of the race, answered each Harvard challenge, maintaining the lead until the finish.
Washington's varsity crew, which included four rowers who won the IRA final and another four who won national titles in the 2V or 3V last season, won the race by a half-length, finishing in 5:33.26. Harvard was second (5:34.83) and Stanford third (5:39.52).
Washington's second varsity eight, rowing in the middle between the Crimson and Cardinal held on to the lead through the entire 2,000 meters, but Harvard pulled away from Stanford in the second half of the race, and gave the UW crew a good challenge, pulling to within a few seats of the Huskies' JV.
But, the Huskies held off the Harvard threat and won the race by about five seats and in a time of 5:41.85, 1.81 seconds ahead of the Crimson.
The third varsity eight race was a close one, with Washington and Harvard battling for the lead throughout the race. UW was in front by two-tenths of a second at 1,000 meters, but in the third 500, the Crimson moved to the lead, stretching the advantage over the Huskies the rest of the way.
At the finish, Harvard won the race in 5:47.62, with Washington finishing second, in 5:51.74. Stanford was another six seconds back in third.
In the Huskies' first race of the day, UW entered fourth and fifth varsity eight crews vs. Harvard's fourth crew, as well as an entry from Brown. At the start, the two UW crews, in the outside lanes, took the lead, with the Huskies' 4V8+ in front.
Those two pulled away, leaving the two Ivy crews to fight for third. The Huskies' fourth crew won the race, in 5:58.93, ahead of the 5V8+ time of 6:03.59. Brown finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of Harvard for third.
The Bolles Cup, which goes to the winner of the UW-Harvard dual, is named in honor of UW oarsman and longtime Harvard rowing coach and athletic director Tom Bolles, who rowed in the Huskies' 1926 IRA Championship JV crew and was the freshman coach at UW who helped coach The Boys in the Boat Husky crew that won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. He left shortly after those Games to become the head coach at Harvard, and eventually served as the athletic director in Cambridge from 1951 until his retirement in 1970.
The trophy for UW-Stanford, the Andrea and Everett Peter Paup Cup, is named for former UW and Stanford coxswain Everett Pete Paup, a U.S. Marine veteran who finished second in the coxed pair at the 1956 U.S. Olympic Trials and went on to become chairman and president of Manson Construction Company.
Paup attended and was a coxswain for both Stanford and Washington and supported both programs during his lifetime. He passed away in December, 2024.
The Huskies return to action Saturday in Sarasota, when they'll compete for the Benderson Cup. Washington will once again take on Harvard and Stanford, along with Brown, Yale and Northeastern. Washington's first race is at 7:50 a.m. PT
For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @washingtrowing on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok; and @UW_Rowing on X, and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
WASHINGTON LINEUPS
Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Nikita Jacobs
Stroke - Ryan Smith
7 - Klas Ole Lass
6 - Giuseppe Bellomo
5 - Sam Ford
4 - Cameron Tasker
3 - Lucas Andersen
2 - Ben Shortt
Bow - Lyle Donovan
Second Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Anjali Pamurthy
Stroke - Ryan Martin
7 - Ethan Walsh
6 - Rory McDonnell
5 - Povilas Juskevicius
4 - Devan Godfrey
3 - Marley King Smith
2 - Oliver Leach
Bow - Hector Guimet
Third Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Connor Eacker
Stroke - Tobias Bosnes
7 - Finn Griskauskas
6 - Marc Tennesen
5 - Byron Richards
4 - Ewan Morrow
3 - Luke Collins
2 - Zach Brownlee
Bow - Colin Phariss
Fourth Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Victor Bocquet
Stroke - Jed Grieve
7 - Lazlo Davis-Rudin
6 - Dimitri Chamitoff
5 - Kiefer Law
4 - Boden Chapek
3 - Jerry Anderson
2 - Callan Ogilvie
Bow - Matteo Belgeri
Fifth Varsity Eight
Coxswain - Tessa Adams
Stroke - Monte Wood
7 - Galen Hardy
6 - Billy Osborne
5 - Dylan West
4 - Jacob Day
3 - Thomas Fiorito
2 - Crosby LaMotte
Bow - Colin Seng
Players Mentioned
