The subscription for the member federations was raised to 150 French francs, in order to allow FISA to continue to offer European championship medals whilst increas ing its reserve funds a little each year. Spain and Denmark were quoted as potential members. However, the Spanish clubs had still not formed them selves into a national federation. September 8th 1897 — Pallanza 5th men’s European championships In a letter of May 3rd 1897, Louis Capuccio, the secre tary-treasurer of FISA, announced that the Czechos lovakian Federation of Prague Rowing Clubs had said that it would be unable to organise the European cham pionships which had been allocated to it at its own re quest by the federal congresses of 1895 and 1896. On July 6th, Mr. Capuccio announced that the “Regio Row ing-Club Italiano” had agreed to take over from the Czechoslovakians the organisation of the 1897 European championships which would be held on Lake Maggiore at Pallanza. The anxieties which had surfaced concerning the rowing course were unfounded. Apart from a few rare occa sions, the lake was as calm as a millpond. Set amidst magnificent scenery, the course was well laid out and clearly marked. Every 500 metres, buoys made it easy to work out the relative position of the crews. Both the Italian officials and the oarsmen did their utmost to make the foreign oarsmen’s stay pleasant and easy. Italian clubs lent their boats and equipment, helping their guests in every possible way. The entente among the latter was also very reassuring. Their keenness to do batde on the water was matched by their courtesy and friendliness on land. It has to be said that only oarsmen or former oarsmen were involved in this. The marked absence of the deadly clan of mouthers of prejudices and incompetent organisers made for several perfect days! The races 4 + : 3 started 1. BEL 2. ITA 3. FRA An easy victory. One commentator criticised the poor standard of the Italian team’s boats. Their riggers were made of wood. Their seats were set far too low, so that as the oarsmen slid forward their knees nearly touched their chins! lx: 3 started 1. BEL 2. ITA - FRA (Not rowed out) Joseph Deleplanque drew level with the Frenchman, Deltour, at 1,000 metres. The latter stopped rowing. 2 + : 3 started 1. BEL 2. FRA 3. ITA Edouard Lescrauwaet, without any of his three brothers (Auguste, Charles and Jules), but with E. Govaerts, finished about 15 seconds ahead of his oponents. 8 +: 3 started 1. BEL 2. ITA 3. FRA The Belgians, rowing at 36, were never threatened. On the other hand, less than two seconds separated the other two crews. One criticism emerged. There had been a free start. Thanks to the calm conditions, this had presented no problem; but certain starts (that of the eights, for exam ple) had taken as long as half an hour. The difficulty in anchoring stake-boats on a deep lake was considerable. However, as one commentator suggested, would not the overcoming of such a problem have been a source of great satisfaction? August 17th 1898 — Turin 7th FISA congress Present: 9 delegates from 5 federations in the main room of “Regio Rowing-Club Italiano”, called “la Galler ia Subalpina”, in the Town Hall. The mayor welcomed the delegates, and Count R. Bis- caretti agreed to chair the discussions. The secretary, in accordance with the wishes of the previous congress, had written in March to several row ing federations, inviting them to join. They included the Deutscher Ruderverband, the Danish, Austrian, Por tuguese, Hungarian, Spanish and Dutch federations, as well as the English ARA, the only one to reply with a blunt refusal! The suggestion of holding the European championships over two separate days, one for the rowing events and the other for the scuffing, was turned down. August 17th 1898 — Turin 6th men’s European championships These championships took place within the framework of the Turin Exhibition. A permanent pass was issued to all competitors so that they might go and see all the novelties on display. The level of the river Po had been raised by about a metre. The current was very slack. According to one competitor, good steering would be no advantage, as, the course not being perfectiy straight, the current swung from one bank to another. A crew who was disadvan taged by this at one moment would profit from it the next. Magnificent grandstands at the finish, receiving plenty of shade during the racing. A military band, and even a tote! A floating stage both at the start and at the finish. The races 4 +: 3 started 1. BEL 2. FRA - ITA (Not rowed out) An uneventful race. Part 1 15
