Great Britain to race the University of Washington at the 2026 Windermere Cup

April 29, 2026

Two Eights will make the trip to Seattle for the 40th edition of the invitational event, where they will also race the Canadian National Team and Northeastern University

The Great Britain Rowing Team has announced two Eights that will travel to Seattle for the 40th edition of the Windermere Cup. Invited by the University of Washington, the event heralds the opening of Boating Season in Seattle and is one of the city’s great sporting traditions.

Following winter training and a highly competitive April Trials, the GB Rowing Team will send a Men’s Eight and a Women’s Eight to race this iconic event and make their 2026 racing debuts in red, white, and blue.

This prestigious event sees the Washington Huskies welcome some of the best crews in the world to come and race on their home water. First raced in 1987, the University of Washington welcomed two crews from the Soviet Union, and such began one of rowing’s great traditions.

Gabriel Obholzer is set to make his senior debut for the GB Rowing Team when he and the rest of the crew line up against the University of Washington, Canada, and Northeastern University. The Harvard graduate, who learned to row at Tideway Scullers School, moves from the engine room of the Cambridge University BC crew that won this year’s Boat Race to the five-seat of this British combination.

Six members of the crew that won silver at last year’s World Rowing Championships in Shanghai will reunite for the 40th edition of the Windermere Cup; Miles Beeson, Matt Aldridge, Archie Drummond, David Bewicke-Copley, Fergus Woolnough, and Sam Nunn. Tom Bryce will be in the driving seat, moving from the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four, which he steered to gold last September.

Harry Geffen, fresh from stroking Oxford University BC’s Blue Boat, will make his first senior appearance in the Eight, a boat class in which he won two of his four U23 gold medals.

Left to Right: Miles Beeson, Gabriel Obholzer, Archie Drummond, David Bewicke-Copley, Tom Bryce, Matt Aldridge, Sam Nunn, Harry Geffen, Fergus Woolnough. Credit: Benedict Tufnell.

“Coming off a long and demanding winter training block, we are incredibly excited to travel to Seattle and get our early season underway at the Windermere Cup,” said High Performance Coach Steve Trapmore, who will travel with the Men’s Eight.

“Racing against the University of Washington, the premier US university crew from a historically strong programme featuring exceptional student-athletes from across the globe, is a fantastic early-season test for us.

“We are well aware that we are stepping onto UW’s home water, but we hope to honour their gracious invitation by delivering a competitive performance and seeing how well our winter preparations translate to racing speed. Beyond the competition itself, we look forward to experiencing Seattle’s unique atmosphere and feel immensely privileged to share Opening Day with the entire local community. Ultimately, this weekend will provide an invaluable early benchmark for us, setting a tone for the hard work that lies ahead as we build toward the international racing season,” continued Trapmore.

Much like the men’s crew, the women have a strong backbone of athletes who won bronze in Shanghai. Jack Tottem is back coxing the crew, joined by familiar faces: Megan Slabbert, Lauren Irwin, Amelia Standing, and Heidi Long, who recently led Oxford University BC to their first win in the Women’s Boat Race in nine years.

Jader Lindo and Lizzie Witt, who raced to sixth place in the Women’s Pair in Shanghai, were back together for April Trials. This time in Seattle, they’ll form the bow pair of the women’s boat, the first athletes to hit the wall of noise as they race down the Montlake Cut, one of the most historic backdrops in rowing.

Annie Campbell-Orde will race with the GB Rowing Team for the first time this Olympiad. The Leander Club/Marlow RC athlete returns to the boat she won her bronze medal in at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

After racing for Wales at the Home International Regatta and winning bronze and silver in the Women’s Double Sculls at the 2022 and 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships, Katherine George will race with the senior team for the first time.

Left to Right: Jade Lindo, Lauren Irwin, Megan Slabbert, Heidi Long, Jack Tottem, Lizzie Witt, Amelia Standing, Annie Campbell-Orde, Katherine George. Credit: Benedict Tufnell.

“Training has been progressing well. It has been a long winter with poor weather, flooding, camps, and a lot of base training,” explained Women’s Olympic Head Coach Andrew Randall.

“The Windermere event is a wonderful opportunity to test how effective our training has been over this period. A competitive result in Windermere undoubtedly puts us on the front foot, leading into World Cup 1 in Seville. Looking over the trials’ results, we are certainly in a stronger position than we were this time last year. We have greater depth in both sculling and sweep, and the crews we have identified to race at World Cup I will be competitive. We have also seen a general improvement in technique across the squad.”

This year’s Windermere Cup is a homecoming for Archie Drummond and Angharad Broughton, who travels back to her alma mater as women’s reserve. Broughton raced the Windermere Cup for Washington on four occasions, winning three of them, while Drummond won in 2024 when the University of Washington raced the Italian National team.

The GB Rowing Team sent women’s crews on five previous occasions, winning in 1998 and 2022. The British men are making just their second appearance at the Windermere Cup, one of the world’s most prestigious one-day regattas. The GB men won the Cup in their one prior appearance, in 2014.

The GB Rowing Team to race the 40th Windermere Cup

Men’s Eight
Matt Aldridge (Christchurch RC/Oxford Brookes University BC)
Archie Drummond (Leander Club)
David Bewicke-Copley (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Fergus Woolnough (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Gabriel Obholzer (Cambridge University BC)
Sam Nunn (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Miles Beeson (Leander Club)
Harry Geffen (Oxford University BC)
Tom Bryce (cox) (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Coach: Steve Trapmore

Reserves: Matt Rowe and James Vogel

Women’s Eight
Lizzie Witt (Leander Club / Imperial College BC)
Jade Lindo (Molesey BC / Twickenham RC)
Lauren Irwin (Leander Club / Durham University / Chester-le-Street ARC)
Katherine George (Leander Club)
Amelia Standing (Oxford University BC)
Megan Slabbert (Molesey BC)
Heidi Long (Oxford University BC / Leander Club)
Annie Campbell-Orde (Marlow RC/Leander Club)
Jack Tottem (cox) (Leander Club / Oxford University BC)
Coach: Andrew Randall