Photo by AJ Canaria
History
The Windermere Cup got its start in 1987, when Windermere Real Estate founder, John Jacobi, joined up with the University of Washington to expand the annual rowing event that was part of the Seattle Yacht Club’s Opening Day of Boating Season celebration. The goal was to showcase the excellence of the UW Rowing program and the Montlake Cut as a premier rowing venue by bringing the best competition in the world to compete in the event. At the time, this was the team from the Soviet Union. That occasion marked one of the few athletic competitions for the Soviets inside the U.S. in 25 years, due to the strained relations resulting from the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The Soviet Union brought both its men's and women's crews and won both races in convincing fashion. After that, the precedent was set for what has become one of the world's premier rowing events, and certainly a staple of Seattle's rowing community.
About Our Partners
All in, for Seattle.
The Windermere Cup has grown into a cherished Northwest tradition. We feel fortunate to partner with legendary Seattle organizations to bring this event to our community.
Members from Washington Athletics and Washington Rowing, work with us to bring the best teams in the world to Seattle to compete in the Windermere Cup Regatta. Rowing is one of the oldest sports at the University, beginning in 1899 with support from the local business community. Washington Rowing has become one of the best rowing programs in the world. It’s state-of-the-art training facility, located on the UW campus and shores of Lake Washington, next to Seattle’s iconic Montlake Cut, attracts the best student-athletes from not only the Pacific Northwest but from around the world.
The Seattle Yacht Club (SYC) started the time- honored tradition of Seattle’s Opening Day of Boating Season more than 100 years ago. Hundreds of SYC volunteers work to produce the celebration each year. The SYC added crew races to the Opening Day festivities 50 years ago this year, and allowed Windermere Real Estate to sponsor the crew races beginning in 1987. Windermere Cup would not have been born without the Opening Day event that put a spotlight on the world-class arena that the Montlake Cut provides for rowing. The combination of the Windermere Cup races and Seattle Yacht Club’s Opening Day Boat Parade, creates a perfect “celebration of community & sport”.
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About Windermere Real Estate
When John Jacobi founded Windermere Real Estate in 1972, he had a vision for the way real estate should work: anticipate and respond to the needs of buyers and sellers, and support the communities you serve. While other real estate companies were focused on size and sales, his goal was to earn the respect of the communities where he and his agents worked and lived.
Windermere Real Estate is the largest regional real estate company in the Western U.S. with over 300 offices and 6,500 agents in nine states and Mexico. Last year, Windermere closed over 49,000 home sales for $38 billion in volume. The Windermere family has a proud heritage of serving our neighbors via the Windermere Foundation, which funds services for low-income and homeless families. Since 1989, the Windermere Foundation has contributed more than $56 million toward improving lives in the communities where we live and work.
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