The U23 Lightweight women's quad launching for their last day of rowing on the Charles.

First light in the basin

CB knows something about lightweight women's rowing. Just a little bit.

Pretty reasonable conditions.

Pieces are better with company.

Doing work

Many thanks to Hash and Niles joined in on about 10 hours notice.

Emma Betuel at stroke. You may remember her from her other roles as the US U23 LW1X.

Helena Randle

Brigid Kennedy

And Molly Pierce in bow

Yes, that Pierce family.

Nice blade work.

So last Friday, someone from WGBH emails me, asking me for a photo of Gevvie for their digital mural that overlooks the Mass Pike. To their credit a) they did this before the final and b)they let me pick the photo. 30x45 feet is a pretty good size for an image, I think. I am sure Gevvie's been on bigger screens, but my photos definitely haven't.

They stacked photos of the athletes with images from Rio and the rings, so I got this pretty cool shot of Gevvie superimposed over the rings and the water that she won her medal on. I like how the oar wraps around the side of the building, too.

The other woman on the mural? Aly Raisman, another local, five-time Olympic medalist and three-time Olympic Champion. Pretty good company, I'd say.

This weekend wasn't all about rowing, there was also the matter of Mike and Annie's marriage celebration. The venue was kind of ok.

And I suppose they clean up ok, too

I've known Mike since I was a senior at MIT, and he's never taken himself too seriously. Fortunately, Annie's a perfect match for him.

There was dancing

And more dancing (with Annie's Dad).

And rower sized...

Jenga!

And of course, the fireworks were off the hook.

Schmetterwinning has gone global and Olympic! Congratulations, Lauren on becoming an Olympic gold medallist. While you wore the stripes rather well, you look even better in red, white, blue and gold! Schmett might be the hardest working person at the Training Center, and that's despite being one, if not the fastest erg on the US team (as far as I know, they don't exactly publish scores these days). Or, rather, that "might" be why she is where she is. She didn't just spring out of college and make the team, though. She paid her dues in stripes before making her first team in 2013, and winning the eight every year since then. She's also always been willing to give back to RBC, and we CAN'T WAIT to hear OLYMPIC CHAMPION Lauren Schmetterling speak at the 2016 Stripes Gala.

Of course, the one thing being better than an Olympic gold medallist from Riverside is being a two time Olympic medallist from Riverside. Congratulations, Meg! Much like Lauren, Meg spent some time dealing with the Riverside erg schedules, and putting up with sounds of Cambridgeport. It even took her a couple of years to hit her stride in Princeton, but once she did, there was truly no stopping her.

The specific photo choice really doesn't matter here, because just about any racing photo of our Olympic Silver Medalist(!!!!) reflects her focus and intensity. Of course you can say that about many athletes at Gevvie's level, so no big surprise there. What is far more rare is the attitude (or rather lack thereof) that is just as evident. She will happily kick your ass on the water, but she will also be the first to offer a compliment if you had a particularly good piece. So, as I've said this many times before about other milestones along the road to Rio, this Olympic medal couldn't have happened to a better person. But this medal didn't just happen. It took a long time to get from a rainy day in at the 2010 Worlds Trials in Princeton, NJ to this sunny day in Rio. It was journey during which, pardon the pun, literally no stone was left unturned. Gevvie and Gregg systematically identified and eliminated parts of her racing and training that needed to be improved. Her start in the final in Rio was great--she was right in the mix. That wasn't always the case. Her final 500 was a thing of beauty--she boldly made the first move to get into silver medal position, and continued to move away from China and New Zealand. That day in Princeton in 2010? Not so much. Gevvie lost when Lindsay Meyer sprinted through in closing stages of the race. That was the last trials race she would lose, but I know that result helped make her the sculler she is today. Just like every other race she's been in, she learned something from it, and made it better. And today, she made it just about perfect. For our sometimes-not-so-little group it's been a privilege being part of the journey, and it's also been just plain fun. And all of us couldn't be happier. And the moral of the story? Dream big, and never, ever, tell Dr. Genevra Stone what she and cannot do. She's more than determined enough to prove you wrong.

I keep reusing this photo of Gregg from the 2012 Olympic trials because I think that captured him pretty well. Just happy when Gevvie does well, both as father as a coach, but also always ready to push forward. Though I think, right around 9:52 EST this morning, he had no words at all. Despite being quite the walking rowing encyclopedia, he's always tried to learn more, and this quest for knowledge clearly paid off. He's also managed to coral this crazy group of scullers from three different clubs, and in Tom Sawyer-like fashion convinced us all that's it's really fun. Come to think of it, most, if not all of us support the Boston Rowing Federation.  :) Oh yeah, he started that, too, with Greg Benning and Chuck Peiper. It worked pretty well, if I do say so myself , and I hope it works even better in the next quadrennium.

Team Gevvie, circa 2010. Who knew that was an Olympic medal winning family/partnership back then?

Triple Double Trouble at Mass Ave.

Some mornings are just great... Even if you do eventually end up in the Charles when your oarlock pops open.

Well, duh! Video footage of the first US LM2X to ever make an Olympic A final (footage obviously not from the race). Well done, Andrew and Josh!

Princeton uni(or looks like one), Newell pair, I am so confused.

Have to post at least a couple of RBC porch sunsets per summer.

Jordi had a pretty Canley, if I do say so myself. I think Bryna and Liane may have been the last RBC people to come back from Henley with three golds. (Corrections welcome).

Stata Center through the Collier memorial.

Bob and Ilana catching first light in the basin.

Orion fading away over the skyline as dawn creeps in.

Cap wondering what the hubbub is all about.

Clouds streaming over Cambridge and Boston from the tower at Mt. Auburn Cemetary.

Olympic watching party at RBC. Looks of amusement and bewilderment abounded, as conditions went from glass to oceanic.

Oh, those Mass Ave lights..

Olympic racing starts tomorrow, and I've been fortunate enough to both train with and photograph our single sculler over the past few years. So here's to the journey, and may your destination be on the podium in Rio. Go Gevvie, Go!

Scullers emerging out of the fog yesterday

Keep trying sun, keep trying.

"Please, for the love of all that's holy, someone row by while before the sun goes away.." UBC sculler to the rescue, further obliging by doing a practice start and thereby practicing being very still. Perfect for the 1/50 shutter speed. :)

Not quite as crazy as this morning, but still a pretty intense sunrise yesterday. Had maybe about 10-20 minutes before the sun disappeared behind the clouds, but it was a pretty glorious 20 minutes.

Varsity Quad back in action. Coming to a Worcester near you.

Sun rising behind MIT's Pierce boathouse.

Alexis and Liane doing battle in the basin on Saturday.

Pretty decent morning in the basin.

What an awesome night with the BRF and Sir Steve Redgrave. Interesting to hear about his very humble beginnings in the sport, what sport can mean for people, his views on Russian doping, and a few more topics. Sir Steve tells you to support the BRF!

Many thanks to Chuck Pieper, who not only invited Sir Steve to speak, but also did the leg work to get the space at CRI and support the open bar.

Packed house on Sunday night when most of the river's rowing population was either in St. Catharines or heading that way.

Probably the best moment of the night was when Jenny (coxswain of the paralympic LTA4+) asked Steve about distractions at the games. Steve launched into a very long discussion on the distractions of the food halls, on the arcade games at the LA games, email at the Barcelona games, etc. Then he looks straight at Jenny, and goes "and you shouldn't let any of that get in the way. You should focus on what you trained for. On what you came here to do. On ... winning the SILVER medal". Delivered with the same intensity and passion as the rest of the speech, but he's still a Brit through and through. Jenny was not quite amused, but had a good laugh about it and all the LTA4+ athletes present posed for photo with Steve afterwards. I told them to pose with him when they get their gold medals.

And now, meet your U23 Lightweight Single, Riverside's and Brown's Emma Betuel.

Early start for practice

Cranking along

The basin was gloriously flat and empty.

Hard work is more fun with friends

CBC's Molly Pierce joined the workout. You may also remember her from her other role as Jim Pierce's daughter. :)

TK!

CB was out as well.

All in all, a pretty good day.