Singled Out: Gevvie Stone Surges Toward Semis

August 31, 2011

BLED, Slovenia – The first quarter of the course is not where Gevvie Stone makes her living.

She would like to be faster off the line, she just isn’t. And she knows it. It happened again this morning. When the horn sounded to start her repechage in the women’s single sculls at the 2011 World Rowing Championships on Lake Bled, the first four boats flew off the line, leaving Stone, of Newtown, Mass., trailing.

“I need to work on my power,” she said. “It’s happened in all of my international races, or most of them. So if I’m not in sixth at the 500, I’m usually pretty excited.”

Fortunately for Stone and the United States, she doesn’t get rattled, and after bearing down she was able to move back into contention before finally finishing third and qualifying for the semifinal on Saturday.

“Endurance is my strength. So I need to use the middle of the race, which is what I did today,” Stone said. “I knew I was ahead of the Belgium (Annick DeDecker) today, so I wasn’t in sixth and I was just using that middle speed.”

Crossing the halfway point of the race, Stone was closing on Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen, who was ahead in the last qualifying spot and holding. One determined stroke at a time, Stone crept up on her stern, until in the final 500 meters. Then Stone pushed through and finished third in a time of 7:44.63 behind Russia’s Julia Levina, who finished second in 7:44.27 and Azerbaijan’s Nataliya Mustafayeva.

“I thought, just keep doing it. Keep pushing off the feet, keep moving the boat, let’s go a little faster. I knew that I had to pick off the Dane, and fortunately I did. It would have been nice to get Levina off the gun, though. I’ve got to work on my strength,” she said.

“If I can get that first 500 faster, I’ll be running with the pack because my base speed isn’t too far off at all.”

Ed Moran

Features