Erin Driscoll wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when Gevvie Stone approached her a year ago and told her to keep her plans open for the 50th edition of the Head of the Charles Regatta.
It wasn’t until later this summer that Stone finally asked a stunned Driscoll to be the coxswain for the Cambridge Boat Club’s Great Eight — a collection of Olympic and World Championship scullers from across the globe — in the women’s championship eights.
Driscoll steered a perfect course as the Great Eight won the women’s championship eights in 15 minutes, 44.79 seconds Sunday, overpowering the US Rowing team, which featured five of the sweepers and the coxswain from the team that won the 2014 World Rowing Championships.
Advertisement
What was supposed to be a close race became a dominant victory, as the Great Eight beat the US team by 19.85 seconds over the 4,800-meter course.
“It was really amazing to cox such talented rowers,” Driscoll said. “I was telling them this morning that five years ago, while they were signing autographs, I stood in line to get a postcard autographed by the Great Eight and here I am in the boat with them.
“It was a dream come true.”
There was hardly a shortage of talent in the Great Eight boat. There was Newton native Stone, a US sculler who also claimed her fifth title at the Regatta in the women’s championship singles Saturday. She got the ball rolling for the super team when she reached out to them on Facebook and recruited them.
The crew also featured 2012 Olympic gold medalist Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic), 2012 Olympic silver medalist Kim Crow (Australia), Donata Vistartaite (Lithuania), Magdalena Lobnig (Austria), Sanita Puspure (Latvia), Chantal Achterberg (Netherlands), and Carling Zeeman (Canada).
“Everyone I asked wanted to be a part of it,” Stone said. “It’s a fun experience — we had such a great time together. It’s so many amazing athletes in one boat and so many fun personalities and people who want to work hard.”
Advertisement
Stone’s father, Gregg, served as the team’s de facto coach, but said he didn’t have to do much guiding with the talent that was in the boat.
“Coaching may be an overstatement,” he said. “I set the rig and I went out with them for one day and talked them through it. They are all international-caliber athletes. They don’t need a lot of coaching. Erin is a spectacular coxswain. After I finished my talk with them, she took over.”
Driscoll utilized her knowledge of the Charles to navigate the course flawlessly.
Driscoll, a Needham native, graduated from Harvard in the spring, where she coxed the first varsity to an undefeated regular season and the EAWRC Sprints and IRA Championships titles.
Prior to her four years at Harvard, she competed on the river while at the Winsor School.
In Sunday’s race, the Great Eight trailed the United States women by approximately two seconds at the Riverside Boat Club, but overtook them at the tricky turn at the Weeks Footbridge and led by more than four seconds at the Weld Boathouse.
By then, the Great Eight was in command.
“It was a fun race,” Gevvie Stone said. “Erin steered a perfect course. She nailed every turn. When Erin asked for something, the boat did it. As the course went on, we just kept building momentum and getting better. By the last half-mile, it felt fantastic.
Advertisement
“It was fun to prove the scullers can be up there on the podium.”
Driscoll said she was starstruck to be in the company of so many great scullers, but once she got in the boat, she was able to quell her nerves.
“Off the water, they are a little intimidating,” Driscoll said. “It’s kind of crazy to be around them and see Mirka’s gold medal. But once we’re in the boat, I went into coxing mode and there I was telling the Olympic gold medalist to get her catch in faster.”
Anthony Gulizia can be reached at anthony.gulizia@globe.com.