SEATTLE — As sure as the sun rises to the east of Lake Washington each morning, so is the consistency of the Husky rowing program.
In the last 10 years alone, the University of Washington men's and women's teams have combined for eight team championships. The men are looking to defend four individual national titles.
"There's greats before us and they set the standard, and now it's our job to reach that standard or to exceed it," said Michael Callahan, men's head coach.
Parker Raines, a senior on the men's team, grew up locally in Sammamish, watching the program's dominance from nearby. It was the reason he dreamed of being a Husky.
"There's a lot of history to it and I think that really fuels a lot of the motivation behind it," Raines said. "There's all these people before you and hopefully, all these people after that will continue to keep on winning."
More than a century of history, filled with 125 Olympians and 46 medals. It's not only pride for the university, but for the entire city of Seattle.
"It's a team that's been here for over 100 years," Callahan said. "Seattle's surrounded by water and hardworking people and people who like to work in teams, so I think the University of Washington really supports its rowing team and always has been for over a century."
The history does not stop with the men's program. Women's head coach Yaz Farooq served as a coxswain for the United States National Team women's eight from 1989 to 1996 and first competed at the Olympics at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
"It's always had incredible community support since before The Boys in the Boat, when the city of Seattle actually sent them to the Berlin Olympics in 1936," Farooq said of the program's history. "And that's been true for the men and for the women, as well."
The support is mutual. Every spring, the Windermere Cup welcomes the opening of boating season in Seattle, and the Huskies welcome the locals back by putting on a show in the regatta.
"The Windermere Cup is an epic spectacle," Farooq said.
Raines remembers it well from his days at Skyline High School.
"I raced in it once when I was in high school and that was the best racing experience I have ever had in my whole career," Raines said. "Coming and racing through the Montlake Cut is just really special, especially when everybody packs the Cut. It's one of the greatest rowing settings in the world, I think. There's nothing else like it."
This year's Windermere Cup pits the Huskie teams against the New Zealand national team, one of the best in the world.
Washington's current women's roster includes four athletes from New Zealand: Olivia Hay, Zola Kemp, Shakira Mirfin and Madeleine Parker. They will also face former Husky Ella Cossill, a three-time All-American and 2019 Pac-12 Women's Rower of the Year.
The current Husky men's roster boasts seven Kiwis: Harry Fitzpatrick, Kieran Joyce, Marley Kingsmith, Oliver Leach, Will Milne, Ben Shortt, and Ullrich.
The women will welcome the University of Indiana, which will count in their Big Ten standings heading into conference championships in mid-May.