We spoke to several winners from the Friday morning Senior, Grand, and Veterans races and were reminded that even successful runs down the Charles are not always without a bit of adventure.
Starting Last, Finishing First: Cinda Graubard
Cinda Graubard of Endeavor Racing Alliance won the 70+ Women’s Single.
row2k: Talk a little bit about the race; it sounds like you started a little far back.
Graubard: I started last bow number. I took it as a challenge. The most remarkable thing about the race was I couldn't think about my technique at all. I only had to watch for the traffic I was going through, and the bridges and the bouys. It was a great race. I really enjoyed it.
row2k: Did it help not to think about the technique?
Graubard: I think so, I think so. It wasn't until the last straightaway that I'm thought, okay, there's nobody in front of me. I can just let loose right here. So it was super fun. I was really excited, and I did not know that I had won until I pulled into the docks.
Recovering from Course Corrections, Bridge Collisions to Win
Robert Lee won the Grand Veteran class of the 70/80/90 Men’s Single event; it was anything if not eventful.
Robert Lee: I wasn't sure how I was doing, because I got very close to the edge and and had top stop and get back on the course at one point. And I hit the inside of a bridge and had to push myself off of my oar and get back in the race. So I was really lucky I had enough lead to get back in there and win.
row2k: Where you able to get back into your rhythm pretty well?
Lee: Yeah, it was a matter of just settle down, get as comfortable as you can, and pick up the pace.
Racing from Bow One: Megan Gradek and Melissa Pearlstein Take Women’s Sr. Master Doubles
Megan Gradek and Melissa Pearlstein of College Club Seattle won the Women’s Sr. Master Doubles for the fourth year in a row.
row2k: You won last year, and how many years is it this time; four? What's the key to coming back and winning over and over again?
Megan Gradek: We train really hard, we stay healthy, we follow our plan, and we have really great training partners and a great coach in Seattle, and they keep us honest all year long. So when we come out here to race, we just try to keep doing what we've been doing all year.
row2k: Are you known as the head of the Charles double back home and is this the race that you guys focus on?
Gradek: We definitely focus on it and train for it. I don't know what we're known as at home. I don't want to know!
row2k: What is the key to racing from the front?
Melissa Pearlstein: Keep pushing for more space. We don't want to see number two, we want to create the space between us. It is an advantage in some cases, because you're rowing in clean water. But last year, we started fourth and passed a couple of boats, and when you pass people, you do put a little bit more effort. But I have to say, you're more likely to have a clean race when you start in bow one
Gradek: But you never know who's out there so you can never feel safe.
Dutch Sculler van der Steen Comes to Boston for Friends, Foliage, and Wins
Franz van der Steen won the Veteran’s Singles 65+ category in a field packed with local friends; van der Steen corrected row2k when we asked if he had won the 60+ to share that he had won the 65+ category.
row2k: (Gesturing toward Greg Benning) Are you trying to stay out of his category?
Van der Steen: So he's the reason that I'm here. I went to the Turin Silver Skiff. Yes, I met him because I was first (in my category), and he was first (in his category), and we sat together on the plane and he said, ‘You have to come to Boston.’ So he arranged the boat, and this is the fifth time I have come to the race. In 2018 I was third, in 2019 I won, in 2022 I was seventh I think, and last year and this year I won.
row2k: Talk a little bit about what you like about this race?
Van der Steen: I like being a here a week. The race is so perfect! The parkour is nice, it’s thrilling. I get my boat from CBC, so I have been there now for five years, and it is kind of a family. And it's beautiful here. The atmosphere, the trees, and all these rowers. It's so huge with all the all the visitors on the bridges. This is really the biggest event of rowing in the world, more than the FISA Masters. So it is my fifth time, but for sure, for the next 10 years, every year I will be here.
row2k: Talk a little bit about the race today; how did your race go?
Van der Steen: I was a bit afraid because of the wind. Normally with a bit of wind, but this was okay. I went to a strong pace, and my steering was okay. I know the steering by heart already; if you wake me in the night, I can say what the course is, so that was okay. I managed at the start a stroke rate 34, and then the whole course 31, and then 34 again. So I was really happy, yeah, even better than last year.
And the steering was okay, and not too many problems with the man before me or behind me. I once hit the buoy just after the Eliott bridge. My rigging was quite heavy and I didn't manage to put it a bit easier in the morning. But then it went okay, and with a stroke rate 31 and a heavy rig, I thought I must be going fast.
row2k: The end of the course really does become a little bit of a tailwind when the wind is like this.
Van der Steen: It was neat; it was so nice the last 400 meters at stroke rate 34! But it’s so nice meeting so many people off these four or five years.
Greg Benning Wins His 27th HOCR Gold
The 50 and 60 year old singles classes row together at the same time, and then the results are parsed out by class; Greg Benning won the 60+ event inside the event to take his 27th Head Of The Charles win.
row2k: I heard that you once asked that age categories to be combined so you can keep an eye on those younger guys.
Benning: I'm a big fan of putting all the Masters together, because then you can have a general classification of masters. So 50-60s, they're together, and the 70s or 80s are right before us, then the 30-40s are on Saturday. My dream is that they put them all together. Which would be, which would be great. So I've been racing 50-60s the last few years, and at 62 you know that they keep making new 50 year olds, and at some point your number is going to come up. And today was the day.
A guy I have raced for 30 something years, Russ Cone, who had me by two seconds today, he's in a younger age group most of the time. Russ had a great race. I thought I had a good race. I thought my split relative to the course record was fine, but I could see these guys coming. And I was like, Okay, this is going to be a real fight in the last mile.
row2k: Which is a different kind of race for you, when sometimes you're out in front and you're able to move away. Can you talk a little bit about what that was like, being in a hot race with Russ, and seeing him coming?
Benning: Russ was two (starting spots) back, and then Dave Deschenes was one back, and then McTaggart, who won, was bow number four, and the four of us kind of pulled out,. I would think it would have been strangest for McTaggart, because, you know, he's got this this gap, right, and he's not catching anybody.
Generally, what happens in these things is those guys will come up on me in the first two miles, and then I'll push in the third mile, yeah. You're getting into Anderson, and you're getting into the CBC turn, and you're getting into Elliott and Windsor, and there's a lot of technical rowing there. It's very easy to spend time worrying about steering instead of trying to go as fast as you can. It was a fun race. I obviously got a medal out of it and that's good, but, yeah, my reaction coming off the water was thinking about next year.
We use these as a selection criteria for putting together team boats at other regattas. We say okay, he was fast at the end of October, so he's probably going to be pretty fast in March. So our Heineken boat has historically been guys that have done well at the Charles.
So our quad this weekend has won seven times in a row; we've got some Olympians to deal with this year, but we have an age handicap, right? So there you go.
Muri and Burns Go Old School in the Grand Masters Double
Linda Muri and Lindsay Burns won the Women’s Grand Masters Double, rowing from the 12th starting place to take the win.
row2k: How long have you guys been rowing together?
Muri: Two days!
Burns: Wednesday and Thursday.
row2k: How did the race go?
Muri: It went really well. I felt like we started off super fast, and I was like, This is amazing. We knew we were probably going to pass some boats and we did just after BUEveryone was great, moved over and that kind of thing. Lindsay just had an incredible rhythm, and I thought okay, hang on and steer. Hang on and steer.
row2k: How were things going in the stroke seat?
Burns: It was great race. She did an amazing course, steered the bridges perfectly. Yeah, the first mile I was just trying to contain the adrenaline, and then we just finished the race. It was fun.
row2k: Did it help to know the river pretty well?
Muri: Yes, yes. For me, even though it's been a while, I know where we are. I know, okay, we're at the mile, we're at the halfway, that kind of thing. Can I say you didn't use a stroke coach? Burns: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Muri: She doesn't use a stroke coach or electronics at all. Zero. And we're just on rate, and it's going, and I'm like, okay!
row2k: Old school!
Muri: But it was so nice.
Mirror Malfunction Does Not Keep Everett and Pasternak from Taking Gold
Bart Pasternak, 85, and John Everett, 84, won the Grand Veteran Double despite some mirror malfunctions in the bow seat.
row2k: Talk to me a bit about the race from the bow seat.
Everett: Oh, it was terrible.
Pasternak: I have raced with the same hat to which I have attached a mirror for 15 years, and I decided I had to get a new hat so it stays on my head. Well, the hat was stretched and it kept falling on my face like this. We had to actually stop twice in the race for me to adjust my hat with the mirror. We still won fortunately.
row2k: That is really good. What were you thinking in the stroke seat while the hat thing was happening?
Everett: Can I use expletives? Bart, what are you doing?
row2k: How was the rest of the race?
Everett: It was fine, it was fine. We didn't get tired, actually. We didn't row quite hard enough, I think.
Pasternak: We were not pushed, let's put it this way. We rowed hard, but we didn't kill ourselves, and it was enough.
row2k: What is the key to this combination?
Everett: Longevity, I think.
Pasternak: We have rowed together now for 10 years, and we haven't lost a race in six years. And we get along very well on the water and outside of the water.
Dietz Takes Win at Sport’s Greatest Rowing Reunion
Jim Dietz won the Senior Veteran II category, yet was still focused on the fun aspect of the Charles.
row2k: Can you talk about coming here and winning the Charles again?
Dietz: You know, it never gets old. You come here, and this regatta has grown; I've been to every one except for one that was 1984. I've won a few, but this is a rowing reunion that no other sport in the world has. You're seeing generations of people here, and we're all cheering for the young guys. We want to see all these kids here. It's just a fabulous event.
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