US Rowing stays course

It wasn't going to be a NASCAR race this time. No slamming into the wall. No rubbing and bumping along the course. Marcus McElhenney had been through that two years ago on the Rivah and he wasn't in the mood for a reprise. So he had a sitdown with his rival drivers to discuss the rules of the road.

"I went to the five coxes in front of me and I said, `I'm Marcus, let's work this thing out,' " said the cox of US Rowing's men's eight. "I've got Olympic gold medalists and world champions in this boat. If we're coming up behind you, let's work together."

After the 2004 disaster, when the windblown Yanks hit the Eliot Bridge and lost the championship race at the Head of the Charles, all McElhenney and his oarsmen wanted yesterday afternoon was a fast ride and a clean trip.

What they got was an easy 12-second victory over the surprising University of Washington as the US Rowing entry claimed its ninth victory since 1994. Taken with the US women's 18-second blowout of their Canadian rivals (rowing as London Training Center), it marked the first time the national teams have swept both events in four years.

"It's good to show the people what we have," said cox Mary Whipple after the women, the defending world champs, won for the fourth time in six years. "It's definitely about pride."

For the men, who skipped last year's race because they couldn't put a quality eight together, this was about redemption. Everybody in rowing had heard about how Uncle Sam's nephews had done "Da Bump" in Boston. "You never want something like that to happen," said Josh Inman, who stroked the boat yesterday. "There was a lot of frustration."

So once McElhenney had cleared the path in advance, the Yanks put pedal to metal and turboed their way to a victory over a field that included boats from Oxford and Cambridge that were stacked with global talent.

Cambridge, which won here two years ago, had four men (including two German gold medalists) who'd rowed in this summer's world championships. Oxford had a half-dozen in its "Dream Boat," including two members of the bronze medal US eight.

The Americans had ample manpower to make a run, though -- half of their world eight and three members of the straight four that placed fourth. "It's not exactly like we just jumped into a boat," observed Inman.

The challenge was how to get into overdrive while negotiating traffic from back in the pack. Since the US hadn't competed last year, it started 29th out of 44. But since the Head is an elapsed-time race, the only opponent that mattered was the clock -- and certain fixed pontine obstacles.

By Riverside, less than a mile into the 3-mile upstream pull, the Americans had two seconds on the field. By Weld Boathouse, just before the 2-mile mark, the gap was six. By Cambridge Boat Club, half a mile from the end, it was 11. With minimal wind and mild water, the Eliot Bridge was merely a victory arch this time.

"Awesome," proclaimed McElhenney, after his boat had finished in 14:09.673, the fastest winning time in five years.

The US women, who started first as defending champs, had nothing but water ahead of them and wanted to keep it that way. When they sensed the Canadians and Princeton creeping up on them at Magazine Beach, they went full throttle. "Everyone closed their eyes and put the hammer down," said Whipple.

A few strokes later, the Americans had a six-second edge on everybody. By Weld, it was an 11-second gulf. Their usual stroke and bow might have been missing (Caryn Davies and Brett Sickler rowed in Saturday's sculling events), but this was still a gilded boat that wanted to make a statement.

"Everyone wants to come up here and enjoy the spectacle and the festival atmosphere, but it's all business as soon as we shove, said Whipple, after her boat had hung up the second-fastest time (15:36.733) in regatta history. "As soon as the oars are in the water, it's game on."

That's how it's been on the Charles ever since US Rowing began bringing its varsity a dozen years ago. Every couple of years, the Canadians send down a monster women's boat and grab the trophy. Once a century, the homeboys run up against an unmovable object. Yesterday wasn't one of those days.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com