Not a bad idea after all

Nereus, also known as the Great Eight, beat a team from US Rowing, finishing in 16 minutes 8.165 seconds. US Rowing crossed in 16:32.502. Yale finished in 16.43.750.

This year marked the first time groups of international all-stars, men and women, formed teams for the Head of the Charles, or any other race that rowing experts here could remember.

Running as the last race of the day in swirling snow and darkening skies, it was clear the Great Eight were special from the start, as they exploded to a nearly seven-second lead by the end of the first half-mile. And the Great Eight were never seriously challenged.

“It was nice because we really didn’t have much pressure,’’ said Great Eight coxswain Katelin Snyder, who coxed the US team that won last year’s world championship.

“We just put our team together. We don’t have a coach and we came here just as a fun, let’s-see-what-we-can-do kind of deal. So it was really cool.’’

The team lived up to its all-star billing as it bristled with Olympic medalists and world champions.

Aside from Snyder, who hails from Seattle, the United States had two other rowers on the team - Susan Francia and Erin Cafaro, gold medalists in the women’s pairs at the Beijing Games. They were rowing for the first time with women they have competed fiercely against over the years.

Dutch rower Femke Dekker came up with the idea of an international all-star team, and contacted Snyder and the others. The idea took off instantly, according to Snyder. After weeks of e-mails, the all-stars arrived in Boston for their first practice Friday.

“Going into it we had no idea of what we had here,’’ said Snyder. “We just got out on the river Friday and went for a little paddle and just said, ‘Let’s go.’

“It felt good, but we never knew how fast we could be. But then we took a few strokes in the first mile that were really long and really comfortable. It felt very, very powerful. But we didn’t really know what we had until we got off the water and saw the results.’’

Francia, winner of two golds (pairs, eights) at this year’s world championships, said she could feel the power in the boat right away.

“It felt to me like we were really rowing well together, and that we were just getting faster and faster,’’ she said. “People asked me before what kind of expectations we had putting this group together, and I realized we didn’t really have any. So that means we didn’t have much pressure on us. We were here to have some fun and learn about each other.’’

Some of the women from northern climes were used to snow, though they said yesterday’s thick flakes were unusual. But for others, such as New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, “It was just crazy, but you know, it added to the whole experience.’’

Twigg was on vacation when she got word about the team, and she immediately thought it was a good idea. But she disagreed about the pressure.

“I think there was heaps of pressure,’’ she said.

“They were calling us the Great Shark Eight and we were up against some national teams out there who’ve been rowing together. We just had the one practice run. And we really didn’t know what we had here.’’

To a woman, the Great Eight said they would like a chance to form another all-star team someday. But with the world championships next year in New Zealand, followed by run at the 2012 Olympics, most of the top rowers will be on national teams.

But now that the concept has proved so successful, most think there will be a repeat at some point.

“I hope this happens again,’’ said Snyder.

“I really loved rowing with these girls. I used to cox on boys’ teams at school, and today this really felt like I was back on a boys’ boat. It was really fun. I think we’ll do it again sometime.’’