foreign flavor
FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
EDWARD WINCHESTER
Mahé Drysdale hates losing . But crossing the 500-meter mark in third in last month ’ s world championships , the New Zealand sculling phenom had to at least acknowledge that option was on the table . Drysdale , a two-time world champion in the men ’ s single , passed the quarter-mile marker in Munich trailing both the reigning Olympic champion and the top performer on the 2007 Rowing World Cup circuit . History was also against him : no men ’ s sculler had ever won three consecutive world titles in the single — hands-down the loneliest event in international rowing .
With the finish line fast approaching , however , Drysdale would soon have plenty of company . Increasing his cadence in the second half of the race , the 28-yearold coolly slipped by the early leaders and into the record books . At the line , a mere 0.81 seconds separated Drysdale from the silver-medal winner . “ I knew I was fast ,” Drysdale said afterwards , “ but there are so many quality guys you never know what people will do on the day .”
He could also be referring to Boston ’ s Head Of The Charles Regatta . A fall rowing rite of passage for college , club , masters , and elite rowers , success at the annual three-mile race is never guaranteed — even for scullers of Drysdale ’ s pedigree . In 2006 , fresh off a second world singles title , Drysdale barely eked out a win over local lightweight sculler Steve Tucker after being assessed a 10-second buoy violation . Racing for more than 17 minutes on the serpentine Charles River course , Drysdale ’ s margin of victory in Boston — 0.80 seconds — was tighter than his Munich win .
Which is to say a lot can happen over three miles . But for athletes like Drysdale , who leads up a robust international field at this year ’ s regatta , the singular experience of racing in Boston is impossible to pass up . “ It ’ s one of the premier international races on the regatta calendar ,” says Drysdale , who begins his Beijing Olympic campaign here in Boston . “ The Charles is a special course , both beautiful and technical with its bridges and turns .”
Competitors universally praise the Charles River course . But the regatta ’ s sheer scale , both in competitors and viewers , is what truly sets it apart from the rest of the fall rowing fare . Over eight-thousand competitors took part in last year ’ s regatta , the largest rowing event of its kind in the world ; hundreds of thousands of spectators routinely flock to the countless viewing stations , bridges , and boathouses along the Charles River , dwarfing attendance at world championship and World Cup competition . Throw in the festival atmosphere , rigorous organization , and civic support that rivals the Boston Marathon , and it ’ s no surprise
ITALY ’ S GABI BASCELLI IN 2006 CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES EVENT
FORTY-THIRD HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA21