RegattaCentral

The Head of the Lake Regatta, today the largest fall head race on the West Coast,  was founded in 1981 by Paul Enquist, an Olympic gold medal rower from Seattle. He and a small group of scullers from Lake Washington Rowing Club capped their fall rowing season by challenging each other to race.

Hosted by Lake Washington Rowing Club, HOTL continues to cap the rowing season for Northwest scullers and sweep teams. Last year's regatta drew more than 2,500 entrants from nearly 90 clubs and colleges in the United States and Canada, including 800 collegiate and 700 high school rowers.

The regatta has drawn many of the nation's top collegiate crews including the University of Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, Syracuse, Duke, Yale,Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. Likewise, it has attracted U.S., Canadian, and South African national team rowers.

In addition to athletes representing West Coast rowing clubs, athletes have entered HOTL from top East Coast rowing clubs including the New York Athletic Club (New York, NY), Potomac Boat Club (Washington DC) andUndine Barge Club (Philadelphia, Penn.).