The Washington men’s varsity eight boat that will attempt to give the top-ranked Huskies their third straight national championship this weekend is loaded with rowers who came to college with impeccable credentials in the sport, and then there is Lyle Donovan.

Donovan, a senior from Milton, Ga., stands out for what he didn’t do before coming to UW: He had never rowed competitively.

After surviving a tryout before his freshman year, Donovan steadily worked his way up the Husky boats. He ascended to the top boat this season and will be the first walk-on in UW’s top boat at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship since Madison Molitor in 2019.

“I am pretty happy in my journey and it’s a testament to the work I put in, and being able to stick with it,” said Donovan, expected to row in the No. 3 seat this weekend at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif. “I was competing with the best in the world — guys who won gold medals in the under-19 (at the World Championships) — and I hadn’t been in a boat.…