Earlier this month, the seventh annual US Gondola Nationals came to Providence. The competition brought together dozens of gondoliers from around the country for a weekend of racing on the Providence River. Reporter Ari Snider was on the docks to catch the action.

All eyes are were on gondoliers Adam Alves and Harrison Richards as they barreled down the river in the two-person, two and a half mile race this crisp November morning.

Fans cheered as the two, who row standing up at the back of the boats, pushed across the finish line.

“Probably the best we’ve ever rowed,” said Richards, out of breath. “We had a really good run. We were very in sync.”

Gondolas are heavy, about as along as a limousine, and even when they’re going at top speed you’d be able to keep up by jogging slowly along the shore.

Though they’re sleek, the boats are not built for speed, and it takes serious muscle to make them go faster than normal, said fellow rower Adam Alves.

“We fought for that really hard,” said Alves. “I fought for that really really hard. That was like everything I had.” 

Both Richards and Alves row professionally for La Gondola Providence, where they go by the Italian nicknames Mariano and Ivano. Throughout the year the company offers peaceful, gondola cruises complete with Italian singing. If you’ve ever been to Providence Water Fire you’ve probably seen them.

The idea for a national racing event came in 2012 from Matthew Haynes, also known as Marcello, the owner of La Gondola Providence.

“The first Nationals was just a one-day event, and we only had three races,” said Haynes. “We had a sprint, we had a slalom, and we had a relay race.”

The relay race didn’t work out so well.

“We just divided all the gondoliers who were here into two boats and they had to switch gondoliers under the bridges, which ended up being a complete disaster,” Haynes said.

The Gondola Games have evolved since then. The games are now a two-day event, drawing gondoliers from around the country including Minnesota and California.

The competition is fierce, but it’s about more than just winning. Haynes says there’s a community here in the niche world of gondoliers.

“Just as important is this social aspect you know where guys who live three thousand miles away get to hang out with each other for the weekend and just kinda share – even if we have nothing else in common, there’s this,” Haynes said. “And there aren’t very many of us.”

For some, being a gondolier is more than just a part time job. Roselyn Young, who goes by Giuliana, is coming up on three seasons as part of La Gondola’s crew. 

“I row trips, I sing on the trips, I actually fix up the boats during the winter, and I also work in the office,” Young said. “So I’m kind of like all three aspects, which is kind of unique.”

Young said becoming a gondolier helped boost her self-confidence.

“I am a completely different person from two years ago, and I’m really happy about it,” Young said. “I used to be that shy girl in high school, artistic, musical, but didn’t really talk to anyone. But now I’m a lot more confident in myself, in what I can do physically and like mentally as well.”

Back on the docks, Alves and Richards, find out they came just short of first place in the race.

“Four seconds behind,” Alves said. “So we have a silver.”

Missing gold by such a small margin stings, but Alves said he was proud of the work they did.

“We still got a silver,” Alves said. “That’s awesome. We trained really hard for this you know we were out here probably at least three times a week. Still 26 minutes is a good time for this.”

And of course, there’s always next year.