Stone won’t skip another crown
The golden girl never fails to surprise.
Genevra “Gevvie” Stone, who captured the women’s championship singles event at the Head of the Charles Regatta on seven previous occasions, had her demise predicted a tad early this year due to her recent medical residency requirements. But, few know the quirky twists and turns of the 3-mile Charles River course better than Stone, a Newton native.
The 32-year-old Stone added to her trophy case yesterday by winning her eighth title and fourth straight.
Stone, who won a silver medal in singles sculls at the 2016 Rio Games, was timed in 18:44.21. The eight wins broke a tie with Anne Marden (1986-89, and 199193), who flew into Boston just to watch Stone break her mark.
“Oh, my God, it hurt. It was absolutely a battle out there. It’s definitely hard,’’ said Stone, who will be back on duty at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital tomorrow morning. “It’s definitely a mental battle. It wasn’t easy at all.’’
Back in Stone’s wake in second place was Felice Mueller, who was representing the U.S. Training Center in Princeton, N.J. Mueller, who captured a bronze medal at the 2017 world championships, was clocked in 18:57.15. Mary Jones, of Huntsville, Ala., who represented the host Cambridge Boat Club, ended up sixth in 19:30.83.
The men’s championship singles required a crystal ball to handicap. Defending champion Kjetil Borsch of Norway elected not to return. Cuba’s Angel Fournier Rodriguez, the reigning silver medalist at the 2017 world championships did not start. That opened the door for 29-year-old Swiss sculler Michael Schmid.
Schmid, who represents See-Club Luzern, rowed to victory in 17:56.41, turning back a challenge from John Graves, 29, of the Craftsbury Rowing Center in Vermont, who finished in 17:59.69. Former Harvard rower and course record-holder (17:11.64) Andrew Campbell, who stunned the field with his epic 2014 win, wound up in fifth place in 18:04.32.
With all four rowers hailing from Skibbereen, Ireland, the championship double tandems of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll, and siblings Gary and Paul O’Donovan drew considerable support from the Boston crowd.
“As you probably know yourself there’s a lot of Irish people over here, American Irish, and it’s great. Everyone is saying how half-Irish they are. It’s great to see them. It’s lovely, lovely,’’ said Mark O’Donovan (no relation to the brothers) through a thick brogue. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful city. We love it here. We’ve been over the course a few times. It’s a lovely river.”
The O’ Donovans had an early 4-second lead but ended up getting nipped by defending champion Penn A.C., comprised of Justin Keen and Erik Frid in a time of 16:35.30. The Irish duo rowed 16:35.42.
The O’Donovan brothers captured the silver medal in lightweight double sculls at the 2016 Rio Olympics, while the other Irish tandem struck gold at the recent World Championships held in Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla.
“Imagine, three miles of a race and it comes down to that. The sun was shining. It was better than our summer back home,” said Gary O’Donovan. “We’ll come back next year.”
O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan finished seventh in 17:15.33.
Said O’Driscoll: “We took a good line. We gave it a crack.”