The first edition of the Windermere Cup in 1987 brought the Soviet national rowing teams to compete in the United States in the midst of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Now, three decades later, the Windermere Cup and home team Washington Rowing will host the Cuban National Rowing Team on May 7, marking one of the first times a Cuban national sports team has traveled to compete in the U.S. since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations on July 20,2015.
“The Windermere Cup has a storied past of looking beyond politics to bring the best rowers to Seattle,” OB Jacobi, president of the racing event’s title sponsor, Windermere Real Estate, said in a press release.