New Zealand's Drysdale wins Head of the Charles

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Mahe Drysdale fought off jet lag to capture his second title at the Head of the Charles Regatta on Saturday, slicing through the waters of the Charles River for a convincing victory in the men's championship singles on the first day of the event's 47th annual running.

Competing for the West End Rowing Club of New Zealand, Drysdale completed the three-mile course in 17 minutes, 57.33 seconds, about 28 seconds ahead of two-time defending champion Michael Sivingy of the GMS Rowing Center in New Hampshire. Drysdale also won the men's singles in 2005.

"I felt pretty good for the first two-thirds of the race until I started running out of gas," Drysdale said. "I'm in much better shape than I've been in the past so I came in fairly confident."

The Kiwi had been battling jet lag and the 17-hour time difference between Cambridge and his home in Auckland, getting only three hours of sleep one night. Drysdale, who is already pointing toward the 2012 London Olympics, said he expected another sleepless night because he was planning to get up at 4 a.m. Sunday to watch New Zealand battle France in the Rugby World Cup.

Defending champ and local favorite Gevvie Stone of Newton, Mass., rowing for the Cambridge Boat Club, prevented a New Zealand sweep by defending her title in the women's singles in 19:31.11, easily beating Emma Twigg (19:58.99). Stone was the first woman to defend the title since Anne Marsden in 1992.

"It's absolutely important that you know the course on a day like this, with a headwind and going against a strong current," Stone said.

She also praised the support she received all along the course.

"You don't get it unless you live here," she said.

Twigg said Stone's knowledge of the course she trains on all the time "made a huge difference. Gevvie took the inside line on two of the bridges."

Twigg also had to navigate around slower sculls because the boats leave the starting line in a single file about 15 seconds apart and race against the clock instead of each other.

"We appreciate the effort the Kiwis make to come to the regatta, " said Fred Schoch, the event's executive director.

State police estimated the crowd along the banks of the river at 164,000. Schoch expected the good weather, the absence of the Red Sox in playoffs and the bye week for the New England Patriots would boost attendance for the two-day event that is featuring 8,868 competitors in 61 events this year.

A slight headwind and heavy river flow generated by recent rain combined to slow times by 20 seconds or more on the three-mile upstream course on the Charles River, compared to the dead calm conditions of a year ago, when several course records fell.

Other winners on the first day included Peter and Tom Graves of the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont in the men's doubles and Jen Daley and Jen Goldsack of the Penn AC/Vesper Boat Club in the women's doubles. Goldsack won the gold medal in singles Wednesday at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The Washington University Rowing Club of St. Louis, Mo. won the women's collegiate fours and the University of Virginia Rowing Association the men's collegiate fours.

The University of Washington will defend its title in the men's championships eights Sunday.

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