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Borch captures Gold Cup at Head of Schuylkill Regatta

Kjetil Borch, a single sculler from Norway, saw the richest prize in his sport close to his grasp Saturday on the Schuylkill - and then he found out the Schuylkill had a little more adventure left for him.

Rowers return to dock after racing at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Saturday, Oct. 25.( Andrew Thayer/Staff Photographer)
Rowers return to dock after racing at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Saturday, Oct. 25.( Andrew Thayer/Staff Photographer)Read more

This article has been corrected. A previous version misspelled the name of Mirka Knapkova as Irka Knapkova.

Kjetil Borch, a single sculler from Norway, saw the richest prize in his sport close to his grasp Saturday on the Schuylkill - and then he found out the Schuylkill had a little more adventure left for him.

Out in front of the reigning world singles champion, with the reigning Olympic champion also in range, and a $10,000 first prize on the line, Borch figured he had 250 meters to row in the Men's Gold Cup Challenge at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.

Then, Borch described how "all these waves kept coming on in, and I caught two crabs," rowing parlance for getting his oar stuck in the water. All of a sudden, 2012 Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, a five-time world champion, loomed closer by the stroke.

Borch said he cursed at himself.

"I've got 40 meters left. I just took a power 10," 10 hard strokes, he said. "After five strokes we were across the line."

He was the winner - and even that surprised him. Officially, the course was 750 meters, a burst of a race for rowing, where usually even the sprints are 1,500 or 2,000 meters.

"I had the meters on the stroke coach, on the GPS," Borch said. "So it showed 719 [meters] when we crossed the line."

Drysdale, 11/2 seconds back, didn't offer any complaint. He earned $5,000 for second, while 2014 world singles champion Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic was third, good for $2,500. Yohann Rigogne, a member of the Vesper Boat Club, took fourth for $1,000. Rigogne then stroked a Vesper Eight that beat Drexel for the Championship Eight, while the third-place boat consisted of the rest of the Gold Cup competitors, men and women.

On the women's side, there was the same prize money. Kim Crow of Australia earned $10,000 after taking the Gold Cup lead roughly halfway through and powering to an almost-two-second victory over Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist.

An attorney, Crow, 29, picked up the sport when she was 20. The daughter of a professional Australian rules football player, she had been a 400-meter hurdler and was injured, working out on an ergometer, when a coach saw her and suggested she make the switch. Crow won silver in the doubles and bronze in the singles at the London Olympics.

Borch had said he was coming into the race "a bit angry at myself," not happy with his turns at last week's Head of the Charles, where he finished second in the single after two straight victories. The summer season also had been disappointing, he said.

But he knows the story of the Gold Cup, how it began as a tribute to Olympic gold medalist Jack Kelly Sr., then was lost for three decades before being found in a Center City antique shop.

"It's more than an honor to actually be able to race at such a historical regatta, especially during its resurrection. Just being here, it's fulfilling," Borch said. He added, "I can't deny $10,000 isn't a bad thing to have in your suitcase when you go home. We are rowers, we are not golf players. So every buck counts."