SPORTS

Rowing Olympian Gevvie Stone competes in Mashpee Regatta

Daniel Schley
PHOTOS BY REBECCA RUSSO
Three-time Olympic rower Gevvie Stone wins the Women's Singles race, with a time of 31:29, at the second annual Head of the Ponds regatta, held Sept. 11 at Mashpee-Wakeby Pond. Stone held the fastest time overall at the Mashpee race among all the singles, doubles and triples competitors.

Saturday, Sept. 11 saw the running of the second annual Head of the Ponds regatta on beautiful Mashpee-Wakeby Pond on Cape Cod. 

This year’s record turnout included rowers from 16 rowing clubs ranging from the most prestigious (and waterlogged) clubs along the Schuylkill River, north to Boston and east to the outer banks of Cape Cod. 

The Head of the Ponds ranks as perhaps the most challenging racecourse in the country, running a full 7,500 meters, which is more than 50% longer than the Head of the Charles. Adding to the challenge, the Head of the Ponds requires that competitors traverse two large bodies of water which are connected by a narrow 400 meter passage.

Entering Wakeby Pond to the north, the course circumnavigates three islands and one ominous point of land before the final run to the finish. Given the challenging nature of the racecourse, competitors are required to have ample head racing experience in a single or the bow of a double or quad. In the understated words of racecourse designer and three-time Olympian Jim Dietz, “This racecourse is not for the faint of heart!”

This year’s competitors included an all-star cast of storied Olympians who represented the United States in both sweep and scull in the 1972, 1976, 1992, 2000, 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympics. Their supremacy on the water was ably challenged by a nearly equal number of men and women ranging in age from 13 to 82. 

Leading all of the competitors from start to finish with a lightning-fast time of 31:29 was three-time Olympian and silver medalist Gevvie Stone, who had the distinction of unceremoniously passing her father, Gregg Stone, somewhere between Jefferson and Cleveland Islands.

First place in the Men’s Single: three-time Olympian and silver medalist in the Men’s Eight, Boston native, Tom Darling, who finished in 33:33.

And then putting a smile on everyone’s face including one very proud papa, the commanding performance of young Teagan Farley, who, at age 12, set a world record on the erg with a 7:24 2K, and who had the pleasure of passing quite a number of elite scullers who remain in denial.

Said Teagan when asked if she was nervous about rowing in her very first singles race, “I am more nervous about meeting Gevvie Stone!”

The rowing regatta, in its second year, runs a demanding course at 7,500 meters, more than 50 percent longer than the course at the Head of the Charles. Stone competed this year in Tokyo and was a silver medalist at Rio in 2016.