It has been 10 years since Watertown's Tom Darling sailed withDennis Conner to an America's Cup victory in Australia and 13 yearssince he won a silver medal in rowing in the Los Angeles Olympics.
But yesterday in the chilly wind along the Charles River, Darlingkept right on winning, just getting past arch-rival John Lindberg ofBelmont in the masters singles division.
It was the type of mano a mano event for which the Head of theCharles is noted. Only one person to blame for a bad race, only oneto take the glory for a win.But the 39-year-old Darling, who competes out of the CambridgeRowing Club, still gave a reason for Lindberg's second-place showing,by less than half a second.'When the wind blows like this,' said the 6-foot-2-inch, 220-poundDarling, who was a grinder aboard Conner's Stars & Stripes in 1987,'big guys have the advantage. Weight keeps your boat going throughit.'Lindberg, a 175-pounder and former teacher at Belmont Hill, wasone of the prerace favorites, as was fourth-place finisher CharlesClapp, a former national team member from Boston. Medford's RussellCone claimed third.Darling started strong from the Magazine Beach line, makingsmooth, fast turns through the windy course, then poured on the powerdown the last half mile to make a strong bid for the course record of18:16.9 set in 1984 by Bob Spousta.But the wind that slowed the lighter Lindberg also slowed Darlingto a time of 18:17.19.'I could feel the wind behind pushing me at first, and that wasgood,' said the former Syracuse rower. 'Then, when it became a headwind, I was able to go through it all right and make the turns prettywell.'In more than a half-dozen tries, this was Darling's first Head ofCharles singles win. After his '84 Olympic medal in coxed fours,followed by the America's Cup years in Australia, Darling returned tothe Boston area, where he coaches rowing and is trying to start asports training facility.His wife of three months, Jillian, rowed in club singles.In veteran singles, 73-year-old Cornell alumnus Ted Sprague beatthe considerable local talent, rowing the 3-mile course in 22 minutes23.86 seconds. Sprague, a Corning, N.Y., native, beat Hartly Rogersof Winchester by 2.2 seconds. Rogers rows out of the Charles RiverRowing Association, while Sprague has no club affiliation.'No, I just row alone three days a week,' said Sprague, who hasraced in the Head of the Charles 'at least a dozen years' and won thelast three in his division.Another New York rower, Fred Osborne from Auburn, placed third inthe 16-boat field, 3.1 seconds off Sprague's time.In masters doubles, Wetern Rowing Club from Ontario started lastin the 28-boat fleet, but won its race by a comfortable 1.6-secondmargin over Rude & Boat Club from Connecticut. In third place wasTeam Attager from Andover.Julia Geer, from Morrisville, Vt., won the senior masters singleswith a 2.2-second margin over hometown rower Lisa Stone, thedefending champion in the division. Geer trains with the MotleyRowing Club. In third place was Celia Merzbacher from Alexandria,Va.Two West Coast clubs -- California Yacht Club from Los Angeles andthe Ranier Rowing Club from Washington state -- displaced the localtalent, which had held onto the women's masters doubles title forseveral years.The California pair won its heat by a whopping 5.2 seconds overRanier, and 7.3 seconds over Wesleyan University's team. TheCambridge Boat Club women had to settle for fourth place, a full 8seconds behind.
