Finals and finals 7—12 On September 2nd, for the first time, the sun did not put in an appearance. It had rained all night. There was a slight following breeze. As early as seven o’clock in the morning the roads leading to the rowing course were congested. The regatta was a popular success, for nearly 40,000 enthusiastic or curious onlookers thronged to the banks of the Feldmoching course to see the racing. 4 +: 1. FRG 2.GDR 3. TCH 4. URS 5. USA 6. NZL The East Germans, leading for much of the race, were fi nally forced to bow to the local crew from Lake,Con stance: Peter Rerger, Hans-Johann Farber, Gerhard Auer (this was to be his fourth tide), Alois Bierl and their coxswain, Uwe Renter. During the final row-in, this crew was striking 42! The crowd, in its enthusiasm, streamed onto the grass verge. 7. NED 8. SUI 9. NOR 10. GBR 11. ITA 12. CAN 2-: 1. GDR 2. SUI 3. NED 4. TCH 5. POL 6. ROM After 100 metres during which all the crews were level, the Romanians, true to their country’s tradition, stepped up the pace; but they could not maintain it. Inexorably, they were overtaken by the young East German crew, holders of the European tide. The Swiss pair, Fredi Bachmann and Heinrich Fischer, having brought up the rear for some time, moved up several places during the last 250 metres, to finish four seconds behind the win ners. 7. FRG 8. URS 9. USA 10. NOR 11. YUG 12. GBR lx: 1. URS 2. ARG 3. GDR 4. FRG 5. USA ^6. SUI Yuri Malishev, armed with the necessary experience, beat the favourite, Alberto Demiddi and a young East German, Wolfgang Giildenpfennig, who had been selected shortly before the games in preference to Drae- ger. 7. IRE 8. BUT 9. GBR 10. NZL 11. DEN 12. TCH 2 +: 1. GDR 2. TCH 3. ROM 4. FRG 5. URS 6. POL The Svojanovsky brothers (TCH) tried to take everyone by surprise at the start. The East Germans, Wolfgang Gunkel and a gold medallist from the 1968 Mexican Games, Jorg Liibcke, very soon drew level, overtook them, and drew away. A last effort on the part of the Czechoslovakians snatched the second place from the 1970 world champions, Tudor and Ceapura. 7. NOR 8. GBR 9. CAN 10. BUL 11. USA 12. SUI 4-: 1. GDR 2. NZL 3. FRG 4. URS 5. ROM 6. DEN Frank Forberger, Frank Riihle, Dieter Grahn and Dieter Schubert, masters of their sport, won after a most thrill ing race - a tremendous duel! New Zealand and East Germany started at 39. At 500 metres, the East Ger mans led by 21/100 sec. At 1,000 metres, the New Zealanders led by 92/100 sec. During the third quarter of the race, the New Zealanders made an enormous 162 effort which sent them past the 1,500 metre mark with a length’s lead. The East Germans did not lose heart. They pulled out all stops and came back, to win in total ex haustion. It was their sixth FISA title since 1966 - the seventh, in fact, for Dieter Schubert! 7. GBR 8. BUL 9. CAN 10. ITA 11. SUI 12. CUB 2x: 1. URS 2. NOR 3. GDR 4. DEN 5. GBR 6. TCH Aleksander Timoshinin, already a surprise Olympic champion in Mexico, and Gennadi Korshikov, took the lead in the second quarter of the race. They held that po sition, fending off the challenge of the Norwegians. 7. NED 8. SUI 9. BEL 10. FRG 11. FRA 12. POL 8 + : 1. NZL 2. USA 3. GDR 4. URS 5. FRG 6. POL Taking the lead at the start, the New Zealanders were two seconds ahead at 500 metres, then three at 1,000, great ly surprising everybody by finishing comfortably. Karl Adam’s eight could not sustain the pace and only finished fifth, watched by their compatriots. The second and third crews were separated by 6/100 sec. 7. HUN 8. AUS 9. NED 10. TCH 11. ARG 12. AUT In spite of the unforgettable crime which was perpetrated at the Olympic Village, these Olympic Games would be remembered for their magnificent rowing regatta in a traditional rowing country. 36 national federations were represented. 25 of these appeared in the finals, 1 - 6 or 7 - 12. These numbers testified to the growth of rowing throughout the world. Oarsmen from 14 coun tries competed in the finals. The medals were shared be tween eleven countries. Every single East German oars man won a medal. September 4th—12th 1972 First international pleasure rowing tour. This event was to become an annual one. FISA pleasure rowin tours During 1971, Thomas Keller, president of FISA, entrusted to Stanis las Fonteyn, the chairman of the recently established sub-commis sion for tourism and veterans, the task of planning an international pleasure rowing tour. A few months later, the first FISA international tour took place on Lake Constance, enjoyed by about 50 people. Since then, FISA has invited oarsmen and women at regular inter vals to take part in pleasure rowing tours. After Lake Constance, ■these have taken place on the Danube (1972), the Friesland Canals (NED, 1973), Denmark (1974), Switzerland (1975), Berlin (FRG, 1976), Norway and Israel (1977), Holland (1978), the River Main (FRG) and Austria (1979), Denmark (1980), Amsterdam (1981), Lake Zurich and Lake Lucerne and South America (1982), Finland (1983), Holland (1984), Lake Siljan (SWE, 1986), Hungary (1987), France (1988), Norway and the Concord and Merrimack rivers (USA, 1989), Novgorod (URS, 1990), Turkey (1991). Since 1889, the juniors have also had their annual FISA pleasure rowing tour. These were organized in 1989 on the Titsa (HUN), in 1990 on the Danube (AUT) and in 1991 on the Vlatva (TCH).
