There are 3,049 miles separating Seattle from to Cambridge, but news travels far and fast between two of the country’s elite rowing programs.

Recently, Harvard has had the best of the University of Washington, with the men’s heavyweight crew defeating the Huskies by open water in the 2004 IRA national championships.

The awards-stand looked the same in 2003, when Harvard bested second-place Washington by just under four seconds at the IRAs in Camden, N.J.

And with a stroke of good luck, the Crimson might have just one-upped Washington again.

Former Washington varsity stroke Brodie Buckland transferred to Harvard this year, providing yet more championship experience to the Crimson varsity heavyweight crew.

Buckland stroked the Washington varsity boat that fell to Harvard at last year’s IRAs.

In 2003, he was a member of the Huskies’ freshman eight that placed fourth—the Crimson freshman boat finished third—at the national championships.

He had raced against the Harvard crew quite a bit before donning a Crimson uniform, but he didn’t know much about the program.

But after the 2004 IRAs, Buckland knew that Harvard was fast. Really fast.

The Crimson dispatched Washington by over five seconds—almost two boat lengths—in the national championship race last spring.

“I just knew they were a good team, not much else,” Buckland said. “I was a West Coast boy.”

This year, however, Buckland’s had more than enough time to learn the ropes at Newell Boathouse.

He left Washington after last season, citing Harvard’s academic opportunities as the greatest incentive for the move.

“[The decision to transfer] was purely academic,” Buckland said. “I didn’t think my academic opportunities at Washington were as good as they are at Harvard.”

In Cambridge, Buckland has found the rowing education just as unique. The Crimson’s style differs greatly from the one he picked up while rowing at Washington.