WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Of the athletes who came to race at the 2014 National Selection Regatta 1, Gevvie Stone might have been the least prepared. At least that’s the way she saw it.
Stone spent most of her time since racing the women’s single at the 2012 Olympic Games in London finishing medical school at Tufts University. There was not a lot of time left for training. “Any serious rower would probably laugh if they saw my training log,” Stone said.
So the Newton, Mass., native, came to Mercer Lake, in West Windsor, N.J., just wanting to prove that she could still compete. The Cambridge Boat Club sculler clocked the fastest time in the time trial Thursday, won her semifinal Friday, and Saturday morning, won the final, beating a field of fellow Olympians and former national team athletes.
“I was definitely surprised,” Stone said. “Coming into this, I wanted to prove that I could be in the fight in the next two years, with Rio in mind. I know that I’m not in my best position as far as endurance and training. My fitness is not where it could be, so I wanted to prove that I could be in the fight with this regatta, and hopefully put myself in a place where I could head to worlds this summer,” she said.
Stone won her race in 7:37.09. Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) from Southern California Scullers Club was second in 7:38.42. Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.), rowing for California Rowing Club, was third in 7:38.49.
Stone was one of three crews to earn a chance to race at one of the remaining world cup races and earn a berth on the U.S. team that will compete August 24-31 at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Craftsbury Sculling Center’s Stephen Whelpley (Mequon, Wis.) won the men’s single sculls and Kerry Simmonds (San Diego, Calif.) and two-time Olympian and London bronze medalist Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) won the women’s pair, and these crews will also be able to compete at one or both of the scheduled 2014 World Rowing Cup events.
For the singles, if Whelpley or Stone finishes in the top six at a 2014 World Cup, or top half if there are fewer than 12 entries in the event, he or she will earn a berth on the team that will compete August 24-31 at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
For the women’s pair, the crew will need to finish in the top four at a 2014 World Rowing Cup, or top half if there are fewer than eight entries, to earn a national team berth.
Like the women’s single, the men’s field included Olympians and former national team athletes. Whelpley went into the final 500 meters of the 2,000-meter course with a slight lead over two-time Olympian men’s single sculler Ken Jurkowski (New Fairfield, Conn.), and crossed the line first in 6:59.18. Jurkowski was second in 7:00.73. Benjamin Davison (Inverness, Fla.), from Seattle Rowing Center was third in 7:08.39.
“I’m obviously happy with the outcome, but a little dissatisfied since my friend and teammate and rival John (Graves) wasn’t able to contend and compete for it,” Whelpley said, referring to John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio), who withdrew from competition Saturday due to a medical condition.
“He was the guy that pushed me the most last year and every day,” Whelpley said. “There were a lot of great racers out there, but I’m bummed that he wasn’t able to join us.”
In the women’s pair, 11 crews were entered from the USRowing Training Center – Princeton. The field was packed with Olympians and seasoned national team athletes and the racing was tight all week.
In the end, Simmonds and Kalmoe came out on top. “It hasn’t even sunk in yet, to be honest,” Simmonds said.
“I didn’t know how it was going to pan out. I was happy to come out on top. But really, our team is so fast right now, it could have someone else on any other day. We’ve had some good rows,” she said. “We’ve been figuring it out, so it was nice to see it pay off.”
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.) and Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.) finished second in 7:11.92, followed in third by two-time Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) and Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.) in 7:12.10.
Also being contested this week were four speed order events, the results of which will be used to help determine invitations to national team selection camps and to see which crews and athletes are going fast at this point in the season.
Two of those events, the lightweight men’s single sculls and lightweight women’s single sculls, concluded Saturday morning.
Nick Trojan (Los Alamitos, Calif.) of Long Beach won the lightweight men’s event in 6:58.08. Craftsbury’s Joshua Konieczny (Millbury, Ohio) was second in 6:58.20 and Cambridge Boat Club’s Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.) was third in 7:09.30.
In the lightweight women’s single, USRowing Training Center – Oklahoma City’s Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) finished first in 7:48.61. London Olympian Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.), silver medalist in the lightweight women’s double sculls at the 2013 World Rowing Championships, was second in 7:49.59. OKC-Riversport’s Devery Karz (Park City, Utah) was third in 7:50.62.
Sechser represented the U.S. in the lightweight women’s single at the 2013 World Rowing Championships and finished seventh. “It was a great race,” Sechser said of Saturday’s final. “It’s actually my first NSR 1. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to race last year due to injury and the year before, 2012, was an Olympic year and didn’t have the lightweight single. So it was my first NSR 1 and I’m happy with the result. I came in and executed what the goal was.”