Newton’s Gevvie Stone credited the Charles River for her silver medal in Rio
"Yes, this is Boston. This what I want. This is rough water."
Gevvie Stone, the 31-year-old Newton native who won a silver medal in the single skulls rowing competition at the Rio Olympics, had a secret weapon during her competition against the world’s best: the Charles River.
The unforgiving Charles, which Stone has rowed on countless times, suddenly became a source of confidence as the conditions in Rio took a turn for the worse during the A Final race for the gold medal.
“We hit the cross chop, and I could feel everyone else struggling a little bit,” Stone said afterward. “And I was like, ‘Yes, this is Boston. This what I want. This is rough water.’”
OMG! On Cloud 9! #Silver #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/FRyZ77DjrA
— Gevvie Stone (@gevgevs) August 13, 2016
As a six-time Head of the Charles winner in women’s Championship Singles, Stone is well versed in racing amid difficult conditions. Fighting to hold off 2015 world champion Jingli Duan of China, Stone thought of her training crew in Boston.
“The last 500 was just go for it, channeling my guys back home.”
It was her final Olympic race, according to Team USA. That said, Stone intends to race the Head of the Charles in October.
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