#031: Head Of The Charles - Olympic Medalist Gevvie Stone

The Jedburgh Podcast

The Head of The Charles is rowing's premier international competition. The sport requires the highest standards of physical and mental drive, discipline, toughness, preparation and the need for precision execution.

In this episode, host Fran Racioppi is joined by one of rowing's fiercest competitors and the greatest of all time on the Charles River. Gevvie Stone is a three-time Olympian and the 2016 Rio Games Silver Medalist in the women's single. She has won the Head of The Charles 10 times in the Championship Single, including six in a row from 2014-2019.

Gevvie lays out the importance of physical, mental and emotional strength; how a dedication to standards is essential to compete at the highest levels; and why trust and confidence in yourself and your team are developed one stroke at a time over years.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.

Highlights:

-Fran and Gevvie recall the history of The Head of The Charles, the importance of the event to the sport of rowing, and the community developed through shared purpose.

-Gevvie breaks down the race course, explains her mental approach to the competition and how to effectively execute a race plan.

-As the all-time leader in wins, Gevvie talks about the expectations of winning and her decision to step away from the elite category.

-Gevvie’s parents were both national team members and her father is her coach. She shares the importance of being able to ‘choose’ rowing for herself, her lessons for parents raising athletic children and the dynamic relationship with her father.

-In 2008 Gevvie was cut from the US National Team; something that lit a fire in her to earn three Olympic appearances.

-Gevvie’s 2016 Silver Medal Olympic experience was the result of controlling the uncontrollables as a freak storm forced her to adapt and focus her energy on the fundamentals.

-Fran and Gevvie dig deep into the mental, physical and emotional aspects of performance in rowing and how the sport is filled with some of the toughest athletes on the planet.

Quotes:

-“Head of The Charles holds a special place in my heart.”

-”If I feel nauseous. If I feel butterflies. That is a good thing. It means that my body is ready to go.”

-”My parents put no pressure on me to row. In fact, avoided rowing at first because it was their thing and I didn’t want to do what my parents did.”

-“On the National Team you make it or you don’t. Only half the team will actually race...I don’t think I was mature enough to understand that.”

-“I didn’t make the team. I shouldn’t have made the team.”

-”Rowing is hard...hard things bond people together more than easy things.”

-”Being a successful rower is more up to the mental side of things than the physical side of things.”

-”I couldn’t have asked for a better year in my career to be in the double. It strengthened my weaknesses.”

-“We came to practice every day wanting to improve and with intent; and put it all on the table in the run up to Tokyo.”

-”People need to find what fuels them up...for me it was the underdog.”

Gevvie’s Three Daily Foundations to Success:

-Stretch the mind and the body

-Communicate a major goal for the day and talk through challenges

-Keep a journal with a focus on achieving expectations

This episode is brought to you by 18A Fitness and Analytix Solutions.