Washington proves a great eight

Crews in the collegiate women's eights make their way under the JFK Bridge on the Charles River. The Williams College Boat Club won the race in 17:11.649. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

These are the unsunniest of days in Seattle. The Mariners are the worst team in the American League. The Seahawks are at the bottom of the NFC West. The Sonics have jetted off to Oklahoma City to cavort among the tumbleweeds. And Washington's winless football team took a three-touchdown beatdown from Oregon State Saturday.

So it was left to the Husky oarsmen to lift the local sporting spirits this autumn and they came through marvelously here yesterday afternoon, winning their first championship eights title at the 44th Head of the Charles Regatta to become only the second US collegiate victor since 1983.

"It'll be really awesome for the boathouse atmosphere," declared coxswain Katelin Snyder, after her supersized crew had covered the 3-mile upstream course in 14 minutes 28.087 seconds to beat a Pole France Aviron Nancy crew that included three members of the French four that won the Olympic bronze medal in Beijing.

Although Washington already had a superb collection of hardware, including the 2007 national title, it never had won here. But when US Rowing, which had claimed 11 of the previous 13 titles, elected not to send an eight this time, the Head trophy was up for grabs.

So it was, too, on the women's side where the US eight that won the gold medal at the Beijing Games decided not to defend the crown it had won the last three years here.

"It was just impossible," said cox Mary Whipple. "Everyone went back for a homecoming. So we decided to let the rookies have our spot."

That left the door open for the Canadians (a.k.a. London Training Center), who sent the entire Olympic bunch that finished fourth, and they cruised through in 16:02.507 for their first victory in five years.

"It's been a tradition to row in the Head of the Charles, no matter what," said stroke Jane Rumball, after her seatmates had prevailed by 12 seconds over ASR Nereus, which included half the Dutch boat that won silver in Beijing. The US team finished fifth.

It hadn't been a tradition for Washington, which spent $25,000 to send two eights here. The Huskies had raced on the Charles twice, most recently two years ago when they finished second to the US team. This time, though, they figured they had a group good enough to make a run.

Three of them - stroke Will Crothers, Anthony Jacob, and Rob Gibson - were in the Canadian eight that won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley last summer and Blaise Didier rowed for the American eight that won the world under-23 title.

So the Huskies flew in Thursday, bunked out in Woburn, visited the aquarium ("Did an educational bit," coach Michael Callahan said), did a couple of test runs Friday, and paddled down to BU ready to take on everybody from the French to the Turks to their old friends from Berkeley.

The question was how much Washington could do out of the 22d starting spot, stuck between MIT and the Fundacion Comillas from Spain. "We didn't know if it would be an advantage or a hindrance," Callahan said.

The advantage of a high bow number is that none of the early starters - in this case Wisconsin, Brown, Princeton, and Cal - could see the Huskies. The hindrance was traffic, which Washington encountered heading into the middle arch of the Weeks Footbridge just around the midway point.

"We were three boats across," said Snyder. "MIT was on the left, Harvard was on the right, and we were in the middle. The wheels were turning. I'm thinking, 'Man, what should I do?' "

She decided to hit the brakes until everyone was through, and then put the hammer down.

By the Weld Boathouse, Washington had moved from fourth place in elapsed time to second behind the French.

"Once we came out of Anderson [Bridge]," Snyder said, "we had a nice clear shot to the end."

Back in the 20th century, the Huskies would have to wait around the finish tent to find out how they'd done. This time, Callahan knew as soon as his boat crossed the line at Herter Park. He'd been checking his iPhone regularly for updates from the regatta's high-tech results system, "and I knew we'd had a pretty good run almost immediately."

Nobody yesterday had a better one and the congratulatory text messages from the Huskies back on campus began flooding in within nanoseconds. Since 1983, when Navy finished its four-year run, Princeton (in 2005) had been the only American school to be head of the Rivah. Until yesterday, none west of the Mississippi had. When the Huskies get back to Seattle, the mayor should throw them a parade.

It won't get better than this for a while.