Jake Zier wins big with UW rowing

Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The University of Washington rowing team won its fourth straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship on June 1.

And freshman Jake Zier was front and center.

“My first year was a never-ending experience,” he said. “Every day was challenging and my rowing skills grew immensely.”

Zier graduated from Orcas High School in 2013 and was recruited by the UW Freshman Heavyweight Crew team after first meeting head coach Michael Callahan while in the 10th grade.

Zier was a part of the Orcas Island Rowing Association for five years under coach Tina Brown. He participated in U.S. Rowing Club Nationals every year.

“The UW Freshmen Crew is a very talent deep program,” said Jake’s dad Marty. “Aside from the 25 freshman recruits, known as Grunties, over 75 guys ‘walked on’ and tried to make the team. After weeks of workouts and competitions, none made it.”

Jake seat-raced early in the season and ended up in the 1F boat, the fastest one in the freshman fleet. His team-mates include athletes from Eastern Europe and Italy.

After early season success racing against Brown, Stanford and UC Berkeley, the UW freshman boat had not lost a race going into the Pac 12 Rowing Championships May 18 in Gold River, Calif. UW finished first, beating California, Oregon State, Stanford and Colorado.

Then came the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta in West Windsor, New Jersey, which sets the stage for the top men’s crew teams in the U.S. to compete for a national title.

UW 1F qualified for the Grand Final on June 1, dominating against California, Harvard, Wisconsin and Cornell and ultimately taking the Stewards Cup. This victory made the UW 1F the National Champions in the freshman class.

The UW men’s varsity won the main race of the event, and Washington won three of five races, capturing  its eighth straight Ten Eyck Trophy, given to the team with the most total points in the IRA. The varsity four won by three seconds, and the freshman eight won by almost six seconds.

Some of Jake’s favorite memories from the year are paint-balling and rowing at Lake Samish camp with the team. His goal for next year is to make the second varsity boat.

Jake was also on the Dean’s List for his first two quarters at school but told his dad not to expect similar grades for his final quarter.

“We’ve been rowing a lot!” Jake laughed.