2-: 1. USA 2. URS 3. AUT 4. AUS As in the eliminators, the American pair, Hecht and Filer, crushed the European champions, Ivanov and Bouldakov. Their rowing was perfection. They out classed their opponents without needing to raise then- rate of striking above 26 to 28. lx: 1. URS 2. AUS 3. USA 4. POL The European champion, Ivanov, proved his supremacy, beating MacKenzie by five seconds, and also beating the still youthful Jack Kelly Junior, who had been a semi finalist in 1948 and European champion in 1949. His sister, Grace, had recently become the First Lady of Monaco. 2 +: 1. USA 2. GER 3. URS 4. POL Findlay and Ayrault beat the reigning European champi ons. 4-: 1. CAN 2. USA 3. FRA 4. ITA The first Canadian victory in a FISA event. A defeat for the great Moioli, who, with his famous crew, finished only fourth. 2x: 1. URS "2. USA 3. AUS 4. GER The European champions, Tiukalov and Berkutov, beat the American double, Gardiner and Costello and the Australians, Wood and Riley. 8 + : 1. USA 2. CAN 3. AUS 4. SWE Yet another American win in this boat class. The win ners’ style was greatiy admired. Their blades made no splash, either at the catch or the extraction. Moreover, the oarsmen’s will to win enabled them to go beyond the limits of their strength; so much so that it was twenty minutes before they were able to disembark and stand on the landing stage for the medal ceremony. The quali ty of the Canadian and Austrian crews which came se cond and third was almost equal to that of the winners. There was only one regret: the absence of the Swiss, the Dutch and the Spanish because of the boycott arising from the events in Hungary. Sharing in this disappoint ment was the future FISA president, Thomas Keller, who had well deserved his place in the Swiss team, and who had been hoping to fulfill his life’s ambition. His later de termination to keep politics separate from sport stemmed from this experience. August 23rd—25th 1957 — Duisburg 4th women’s European championships Preliminary heats 4 +: 7 entered - 6 started - POL (scratched - no eliminators.) lx: 7 crews El: 1. AUT 2. HUN 3. BEL 4. GER Eli: 1. URS 2. ROM 3. DEN R: 1. ROM 2. GER 3. HUN 4. BEL 5. DEN 2x: 6 crews - No eliminators 4x+: 7 crews El: 1. URS 2. ROM 3. GER 4. FRA Eli: 1. HUN 2. POL 3. NED R: 1. POL 2. GER 3. ROM 4. NED 5. FRA 8 +: 4 Crews - No eliminators Finals 4 +: 1. URS 2. ROM 3. GER 4. DEN 5. GBR 6. FRA Yet another Soviet victory. lx: 1. URS 2. AUT 3. HUN 4. ROM 5. BEL 6. GER The Austrian, Eva Sika, having led all the way, was beat en in the last few metres by Emilia Mukhina. 2x: 1. URS 2. ROM 3. GER 4. TCH 5. HUN 6. NED A bitter struggle between the first three crews. The Ger man double, both members of the Duisburg club, in cluding the 1956 European sculling champion, Ingrid Scholz, finished third. 4x+: 8 + : 1. URS 2. HUN 3. GER 4. ROM 5. POL 6. NED A well-sculled race by all the crews. 1. URS 2. GER 3. ROM 4. GBR A bitter contest between the first three crews, who finished within two seconds of each other. A clean sweep for the Soviet team, as in 1954 and 1955. August 27th 1957 — Duisburg 53rd ordinary FISA congress The USA withdrew from organising the 1958 World championships. The council and the technical commis sion were to draw up a contingency plan. As Czechoslovakia had to withdraw from organising the 1959 European championships, these were allocated to France. The delegates rejected the Soviet proposal to abolish the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary mem bers. It therefore remained necessary, in order to be come an ordinary member, to have organised the Euro pean championships or the Olympic Games regatta. The rules concerning lightweight events were ratified. This category was open to crews whose average weight per oarsman did not excede 67.5 kg. No oarsman must weigh more than 70 kg. In future, the start would be given with the command, “Etes-vous prets? Partez”, the words “messieurs” or “mesdames” being no longer required. The photofinish was made obligatory for all international racing. Part 3 115
