“It’s an incredible cauldron of noise.” A Windermere Cup homecoming for Archie Drummond and Angharad Broughton

Ahead of the 40th annual Windermere Cup, Fergus Mainland spoke with a pair of former Huskies about what awaits the GB Rowing Team in Seattle

Often referred to as Rowtown, USA, Seattle is a bastion of rowing in the USA, and the Montlake Cut is its main artery. Each year, this fabled race course adds chapter after chapter to this great novel of rowing history, tradition, and nostalgia.

In 1987, the Windermere Cup story began, growing into the spotlight that the 1936 Boys in the Boat lit up the Pacific Northwest with. The first challengers were the Soviet Union, one of the perennial powerhouses of international rowing at the time. The Soviets won, just like they had done in the Women’s Eight at every World Championships since 1978 and just like their men had done in Hazewinkel in 1985.

However, the foundations of excellence were laid and fast forward 40 years, the University of Washington continues to invite the very best in international rowing to Seattle, to showcase some of the best racing in the sport as part of Opening Day for Boating Season in the city.

“It’s a race where it means a lot to the Washington oarsmen and women, especially the seniors,” explained Archie Drummond, who won the Windermere Cup in 2024 when the Huskies welcomed the Italian National Team.

“It’s your last run down the course that you’ve made home for the last four years, so racing that as a senior is really quite a big deal,” continued Drummond, who will face off against his old teammates this weekend.

Credit: AllMarkOne

This will be the fifth time the Great Britain Rowing Team women have accepted an invitation to race. The last time they travelled was 2022, a triumphant trip for the team.Lining up against them was Angharad Broughton, in her Junior year, who went on to earn Windermere Cup stardom. She won three races against Italy, Australia, and fierce rivals from the University of California, Berkeley.

“You don’t understand what it is until you race through it,” said Broughton, who travels as a reserve for the Women’s Eight.

“I’ve been trying to tell people about it, and you can’t really explain it until you’ve gone through the Cut with cannons going off, barbecues, and people screaming. It’s such a cool event and an environment to be a part of.”

Yes, cannons. Something that, after four years, still takes Drummond by surprise.

“When the first boat crosses the 1000m marker, there’s a guy who sits with a canon on his boat. Even though it’s a blank, it’s only two metres from where you pass, and it’s made me jump every single time I’ve done the race. There’s a lot happening, and it can be overwhelming, but if you embrace it, it’s an incredible cauldron of noise.
“We’re going into this viewing it as another World Cup, that’s the sort of standard we’re expecting. To have that experience happen before World Cup I in Seville; that’s an amazing opportunity. We are expecting a very close race, and having a close race down the Montlake Cut, you can’t ask for much more than that.

“The message that I’ve been trying to get across to the guys is just how special it is and how amazing it will be to compete. However, also emphasise how much Washington wants to win and cause an upset in front of their home, friends, and family,” said Drummond, echoing his fellow Husky.

Both rowers were recruited to the University of Washington for their studies. Both emerged ready to take the next step in their rowing journeys, having taken their first strokes as part of British Rowing’s GB Performance Development Academies.

Broughton learned to row at Llandaff Rowing Club, while Drummond caught the bug at Twickenham Rowing Club after picking up a knee injury in rugby.

“I trained in a small programme in Cardiff with five of us in the squad, and I was a little bit nervous going to somewhere that had over 100 girls by the time I left,” said Broughton.

“I thought it was going to be a bit overwhelming, but everyone does a good job of creating such an amazing culture where everyone is appreciated, and that was a really lovely thing to be a part of. You could find your people easily, and the culture that was created was unmatched.”

After her time with Llandaff Rowing Club, Broughton got a taste of international rowing on two occasions for Wales at the Home International Regatta in 2017 and 2018, before racing at both the U19 and U23 World Championships for Great Britain.

Under the watchful eye of coach Helen Brown, Drummond developed alongside the likes of Callum Dixon, Vwairé Obukohwo, and Aidan Thompson, as well as Jade Lindo, who races this weekend as part of the Women’s Eight.

Great coaches are a theme of their respective journeys. From the likes of Brown to Michael Callahan and Yaz Farooq in Washington, this continued when they returned to the UK.

Broughton, a former netball player, joined the ranks at Molesey Boat Club. Under the stewardship of Sam Tuck, she helped the club conquer the Wargrave Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, winning in record time last year.

“Last year was one of the first years that we felt Molesey was really building. We had three eights racing and that was a really cool thing to be a part of the growth of that team. We couldn’t have done it without the culture of everyone being important and driving the standard every single day.”

On stepping up to the GB Rowing Team, Broughton added, “ Everybody has been very welcoming and really helpful. Having a lot of people from Molesey and a lot of people I already knew made it a very easy transition, and being able to bring some of those cultural things in has been really nice.

“Right now, it’s a really great place to be with the people who are here, and it’s just made it a good place for me to learn, and I feel I’ve grown a lot from being here.”

As well as race day on Saturday, crews will also participate in dinners and press conferences. It’s all part of an action-packed schedule that includes the sixth annual Twilight Sprints on Friday night over 600m.

“In the best way possible, it’s an absolute circus of a week, it’s brilliant. It’s such a unique event in our sport, and it’s really fun to watch, and any time you can see an elite college-level crew, an elite international crew, I think that’s brilliant for the sport.

“It improves the college standard and keeps the international crews on their game. We are very aware that if we go over to Seattle and we’re not 100% on our game, we’re going to get beaten, and that can only be a good thing. It’s a completely unique event, and it’s brilliant,” concluded Drummond.

On Saturday, The Great Britain Rowing Team will race the University of Washington for the 40th edition of the Windermere Cup. The men will also line up against Northeastern University, while the women will additionally race Canada.

19:30 BST Women’s Windermere Cup
19:45 BST Men’s Windermere Cup