4x: 1. GDR 2. URS 3. TCH 4. SUI 5. NZL 6. BUL A close but undisputed victory. 7. POL 8. FRA 9. ROM 10. USA 11. GBR 12. CAN 8 + : 1. USA 2. GBR 3. NZL 4. GDR 5. URS 6. FRG The race of the century, according to Jean Rodenfuser! Three seconds covered the first five crews. New Zealand, rowing comfortably and perfectly together, seemed to have the race in the bag, and for 1,800 metres they demonstrated that they fully deserved to be the favourites. But an incredible burst brought the Ameri cans the most sought- after of tides, before an ecstatic crowd, whose excitement was increased by the feat of the British crew, which moved up from last place to snatch the silver medal. 7. TCH 8. AUS 9. POL 10. CAN 11. ITA 12. AUT An opinion after Lucerne 1974 Very few nations are able to keep pace with the famous East Ger mans or the powerful Soviet crews, with their astonishingly low rate of striking. A comparison of times in the finals, especially in the races for 4x, 2 +, 4- and 4 +, in which the GDR or URS were either first or second, ignoring the third-placed crew, reveals that on each occasion there is an average gap of ten seconds between the first and fourth-placed crews. September 4th—8th 1974 — Lucerne 1st FISA championships for lightweights These championships were intended to give positive en couragement to all those in the world under 7 0 kilos who had until then been frustrated by the fact that 90 kilos was the average weight needed to have any chance of winning. The president of FISA seemed, however, to be rather disappointed by the poor entry in the first champi onship. The absence of the Eastern Europeans was regretted. Preliminary heats lx: 13 crews EL 1. GBR 2. BEL 3. JPN 4. SWE 5. FIN Eli: 1. USA 2. NED 3. SUI 4. FRG Fill: 1. MEX 2. CAN 3. NOR 4. TUR R: 1. FRG 2. SWE 3. FIN 4. TUR 1/2 FI: 1. USA 2. SUI 3. GBR 4. CAN 5. JPN 6. FIN 1/2 FII: 1. NED 2. MEX 3. FRG 4. BEL 5. NOR 6. SWE 4-: 11 crews EL 1. NED 2. USA 3. SWE 4. FRG 5. NOR 6. TUR Eli: 1. AUS 2. DEN 3. CAN 4. GBR 5. MEX RI: 1. USA 2. NOR 3. GBR 4. CAN 5. TUR RII: 1. FRG 2. SWE 3. DEN 4. MEX 8 +: 4 crews went straight to the final Finals lx: 1. USA 2. NED 3. SUI 4. GBR 5. FRG 6. MEX A win for William Belden, in spite of a remarkable finish by H. Punt. A Swiss oarsman, Renato Wyss, finished third, 16/100 sec. behind the second man. 7. CAN 8. NOR 9. BEL 10. JPN 11. FIN 12. SWE 4-: 1. AUS 2. NED 3. USA 4. FRG 5. SWE 6. NOR A very easy win for Australia, who were in the lead all the way. 7. GBR 8. DEN 9. DEN 10. TUR 11. MEX 8 + : 1. USA 2. NED 3. FRG 4. CAN The Americans completed their haul in these lightweight events which were destined to go from strength to strength. August 6th—10th 1975 — Montreal 6th FISA men’s junior championships The future 1976 Olympic course was ready. FISA’s best junior oarsmen tested it out, and found it perfectiy satis factory. 4 +: 6. NOR 2x: 1. GDR 2. FRA 3. FRG 4. CAN 5. ITA 1. GDR 2. URS 3. FRG 4. GBR 5. YUG 6. SWE 2-: 1. FRG 2. URS 3. CAN 4. YUG 5. GDR 6. GBR lx: 6. SWE 2 +: 6. USA 4-: 1. GDR 2. GBR 3. FRG 4. POL 5. ITA 6. USA 4x: 6. ESP 8 +: 6. ESP Three federations, those of URS, FRG and, especially, GDR, monopolized the places on the podium: 19 me dals out of a possible 24! August 21st—24th 1975 — Nottingham 2nd women’s World championships Having been tried out in the 1973 junior champion ships, the artificial rowing course at Nottingham, the first to be built in the country which gave birth to the sport of rowing, proved highly satisfactory. Everything was ready for the great world contest in which, for the second time at this level, oarsmen and women, including lightweights, were to confront each other on the same course. Worthy of mention were the two rolling grandstands mounted on articulated trailers which followed the races. It was the first time that the People’s Republic of China had taken part in a FISA event Part 4 169 1. GDR 2. FRG 3. YUG 4. FRA 5. URS 1. URS 2. GBR 3. FRG 4. ARG 5. GDR 1. URS 2. GDR 3. FRG 4. SUI 5. FRA 1. GDR 2. FRG 3. URS 4. CAN 5. FRA
