L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano T h i s y e a r , t h e 2024 Winder- m e r e C u p Regatta, a pop- ular Seattle tra- dition, brought together two rowing powerhouses – the University of Washington a n d t h e I t a l i a n N a t i o n a l Team – to battle it out in a contest with historic roots. I n 1 9 3 6 , d u r i n g t h e Olympic Games in Berlin, t h e j u n i o r 8 - m a n r o w i n g team from the University of W a s h i n g t o n v i e d a g a i n s t m u c h m o r e e x p e r i e n c e d competitors from Italy, Ger- many and 11 other nations. Against all odds, the scrappy Husky team made Olympic history, bringing home the gold medal in a spectacular u p s e t t h a t s t u n n e d t h e world. The silver medalists were the Italian National Team, with Germany plac- ing third. The inspirational story of t h i s u n d e r d o g t e a m f r o m S e a t t l e c a m e t o n a t i o n a l attention thanks to Daniel B r o w n ' s a w a r d - w i n n i n g b o o k , T h e B o y s i n t h e Boat, published more than a decade ago. More recently, the blockbuster book was t u r n e d i n t o a n a c t i o n - p a c k e d f i l m r e l e a s e d i n D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 3 a n d p r o - d u c e d b y a c t o r G e o r g e Clooney. Even though none o f t h e r o w i n g s c e n e s w a s filmed in Seattle — movie producers felt the Seattle landscape was too built up and could no longer pass for 1936 – the film was warmly r e c e i v e d i n t h e P a c i f i c Northwest. This year, in a nod to the film, UW invited the Italian N a t i o n a l T e a m ( a l o n g with the University of Wis- consin) to compete in the 2 0 2 4 W i n d e r m e r e C u p finals. A huge crowd turned out in early May to see these three top-tier rowing teams battle it out on the Montlake Cut, the easternmost section o f t h e L a k e W a s h i n g t o n Ship Canal, not far from the U W c a m p u s . L o c a l f a n s w e r e t h r i l l e d w h e n t h e results mirrored the 1936 medal results. UW's men's a n d w o m e n ' s t e a m s b o t h took home first place, with the Italian National Team coming in second in both races. The Windermere Cup, an annual rowing event, has been held every year on the first Saturday in May since 1986. It's held in conjunc- tion with the Seattle Yacht Club's opening day parade, which signals the start of the boating season in Seattle. The main race was origi- n a l l y c o n c e i v e d b y J o h n Jacobi, founder of Winder- m e r e R e a l E s t a t e , w h o thought that an internation- al rowing meet would be a great way to bring the best teams in the world to Seattle and promote the city's great r o w i n g t r a d i t i o n . J a c o b i sweetened the deal by offer- ing to be the title sponsor. T h e f i r s t W i n d e r m e r e Cup pitted the UW against t h e S o v i e t s w h o h a d j u s t won the 1986 world champi- onship. The Cold War was s t i l l u n d e r w a y a n d r a c e s e c u r i t y i n S e a t t l e w a s intense. FBI agents, State D e p a r t m e n t o f f i c i a l s a n d S e a t t l e p o l i c e w e r e a l l involved but the meet went off without a hitch. That first contest created the buzz that the Huskies had hoped for, even though they lost to the Soviets. Since then, UW has hosted more than 15 nations at the Windermere Cup. Windermere Real Estate's current president OB Jacobi, whose father had started the race, was thrilled to include the Italians in this year's e v e n t . " W i t h t h e r e c e n t release of the Boys in the Boat movie, we thought it would be exciting to bring I t a l y t o r a c e a n d s e t t h e stage for a rematch of the 1 9 3 6 O l y m p i c s w h e n t h e Huskies and Italy fought it o u t f o r g o l d a n d s i l v e r respectively," he said. T h e I t a l i a n s a r e n o strangers to Seattle and UW rowing. Giulio Acernese and Matteo Belgeri, both rowers a n d U W s t u d e n t s , w o n championships. Acernese is a two-time World Rowing U n d e r 2 3 c h a m p i o n , a n d Belgeri won the Under 19 championship in 2023. O n t h e w o m e n ' s t e a m , Chiara Ondoli played a key role in helping the Huskies win the 2017 national cham- pionships and later partici- pated in the 2020 Olympics, which were actually held in s u m m e r 2 0 2 1 b e c a u s e o f COVID-19. Carmela Pap- palardo and Valentina Isep- pi were on the UW squad when it won the 2019 NCAA grand final. The two elite a t h l e t e s t r a i n e d w i t h t h e Italian National Team hop- ing to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games. Although Pappalardo did not make the cut, Iseppi did, repre- s e n t i n g I t a l y d u r i n g t h e games in Tokyo. She placed fourth, narrowly missing out on a medal. This year's match-up was t h e t h i r d t i m e t h a t I t a l y raced in the Windermere C u p . I n 1 9 8 9 , t h e I t a l i a n t e a m w o n t h e m e n ' s r a c e and finished third in 2004. The women's team finished second behind UW in 2004. Italy earned its first Olympic medal in rowing at the 1920 games and has been a strong i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p e t i t o r ever since. UW men's rowing coach Michael Callahan had noth- ing but praise for the Italian team. "They have a lot of spirit," he said. "They race really hard. They're one of the best nations and inter- national Olympic teams out there, so they have one of the best teams top to bot- tom, juniors all the way to t h e O l y m p i c t e a m . S o w e k n e w i t ' d b e a s t r o n g matchup." As an added bonus, six of the actors from The Boys in the Boat attended this year's W i n d e r m e r e C u p f i n a l s , including Luke Slattery, who p l a y e d c o x s w a i n B o b b y Moch; Jack Mulhern, who p l a y e d s t r o k e s e a t D o n H u m e ; S a m S t r i k e , w h o played bow seat Roger Mor- r i s ; a n d B r u c e H e r b e l i n - Earle, who played #6 seat G e o r g e " S h o r t y " H u n t . Though most of the men had no rowing experience, all of t h e m r e c e i v e d s e v e r a l months of intense coaching with trainers and elite-level rowers to prepare them for their physically demanding roles. H i s t o r i c m a t c h - u p r e p e a t e d a t Seattle's 2024 Windermere Cup RITA CIPALLA Spectator boats lined the Montlake Cut as the University of Washington Huskies edged out the Italian National Team to take the top spot in this year's Windermere Cup (Photo: University of Washington) The men's Italian National Team seemed happy to be in Seattle in early May, competing in the 2024 Windermere Cup Regatta, a popular Seattle tradition (Photo: University of Washington) SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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