Washington Rowers Honor Famous Predecessors

No story deserves a Hollywood telling more than that of nine working-class kids from the University of Washington’s crew and their battle for gold at the 1936 Olympics. No one appreciates what that crew has meant to their sport or their university than the current University of Washington rowers here for the Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend.

“I’m really glad that all these people get to hear the story that we all know. Every rower who comes through here [University of Washington], they all know each guy in the boat, they know their names, they know the story, they know the themes behind it and that is what we all live by. That spirit of the boys in the boat,” said Parker Raines, junior rower at University of Washington. “So, I’m glad that can be shared with the entire world at this point. It makes me proud to be a rower.”

The film adaptation of the book, “The Boys in Boat” arrives in theaters Christmas Day. An exhibit celebrating the crew and the film is one of the busiest tents at the finish-line expo area this weekend. Washington rowers were given a sneak preview of the film Thursday night, and lingered at the exhibit on Friday.

“It was awesome. The whole exhibit, the whole movie and everything is beyond what we could have imagined,” said Harry Fitzpatrick, junior rower at the University of Washington. “We’re just really excited for the whole world to see it and get to know a little bit about what we immerse ourselves in every day.”

In addition to current rowers, University of Washington alumni also stopped by the exhibit to see a preview of the movie adaption.

“It’s ingrained in every rower we all know the names of every single oarsman in the boat and what they did and what they accomplished,” University of Washington alumnus Rob Gibson said. “It [the exhibit] captures it very well, it brings the human character to the accomplishment, these are just very average guys who did something extraordinary.”