August 30th 1908 — Lucerne 16th men’s European championships These championships were organized by Lucerne’s “See-Club”, under the auspices of the Swiss Federation of Rowing Clubs. The races 4 +: 4 entered 1. ITA 2. BEL 3. SUI 4. FRA To everybody’s surprise, the crew from Venice beat the “invincible ” crew from Ghent, who had been the Euro pean champions since 1904. Their victory remained in doubt until the end of the race. 2x: 4 entered 1. BEL 2. ITA 3. SUI 4. FRA The Italian double, E. Sacchini and E. Dones, set off well, then strayed outside the buoyed course. This manoeuvre cost them about eight lengths. They nevertheless caught up with all the crews but one, but failed to win by a narrow margin, conceding the victory to Hermans and Crombet. lx: 4 entered 1. FRA 2. SUI - ITA and BEL (disqualified) The third successive title for Gaston Delaplane. Having got off to a good start, he had more than a length’s lead at the halfway mark. At 1,200 metres, the Italian, Mariani, drew level. After a ding-dong battle, Mariani collided with the Frenchman in the latter’s water. The umpire stopped the race, and restarted it at 1000 metres. There followed an easy victory for the European title holder. 2 +: 4 entered 1. BEL 2. ITA 3. FRA 4. SUI Another victory for Visser and Molmans, winners in 1903, 1905 and 1907. 8 +: 3 entered 1. BEL 2. FRA 3. ITA A splendid race for all three crews. France held the lead for 1000 metres, then the Belgians overtook them, main taining a length’s lead to the finish. Meanwhile, the Italians redoubled their efforts in a vain attempt to gain second place. Oscar de Somville collected his eighth and last European tide, having won his first in 1900. August 21st 1909 — Paris 18th FISA congress Present: 13 delegates from 6 federations. The delegates were welcomed in a prestigious restaurant of high gastronomical repute on the Champs-Elysees. It was 2pm, and had been pouring with rain since early morning. In the absence of the president of the French federation, the vice-president, Edmond Haffreingue, was elected chairman of the congress. Once again, the question of relations with federations not yet affiliated aroused strong feelings. Contrary to the previous year, when they had not supported a similar proposition put forward by the Swiss, the French asked for autonomy in the question of the Rules of Racing. This proposal was put forward, according to Haffreingue, in the hope of attracting the English, the Germans, etc., who had so far remained aloof (with one or two excep tions) because they opposed the imposition of a uniform set of rules. Oscar Gregoire, the president of the Belgian federation, deemed it essential to maintain contact even from a distance with the non-affiliated nations, in order to demonstrate to them that FISA had a significant role to play. The German federation had difficulty in recognising the autonomy of the commission from Alsace-Lorraine. The delegate of this commission, one of the founder mem bers of FISA, an oarsman emeritus, Charles Hahn, re fused to accept that affiliated federations could take a stand against unaffiliated ones. When the vote was taken, Alsace abstained: three members, the Adriatic, Belgian and Italian federations, were opposed to autonomy: Swit zerland and France voted in favour. A single internation al set of Rules of Racing was thus upheld. Once again, the suggestion of making voting and sub scriptions proportional to the number of members in a federation was turned down. In the evening, at the same restaurant, an excellent meal, indeed a banquet, was provided by Albert Glandaz, the president of the French federation. August 22nd 1909 — Juvisy (Paris) 17th men’s European championships The delegates and officials were invited to make the jour ney down the Seine from Paris to Juvisy on board a steamer. On arrival, they inspected a course which had been beautifully laid out by Paul Marechal, the former president of the French federation. The weather was un settled. At the beginning of the afternoon, it became much worse. Nevertheless, a large crowd turned up and occupied the river bank. A heavy shower of rain soaked the fours on their way to the start. The race was started slighdy behind schedule. The races 4 +: 5 started 1. ITA 2. BEL 3. SUI 4. FRA - ALS-LOR (Not rowed out) The Belgian crew had a superb start. At 800 metres, the Italians spurted magnificentiy, and took an unassailable lead. Rowing in a borrowed boat, the Swiss, from the Grasshopper Club in Zurich, kept pace with the Bel gians, but were narrowly beaten into third place. Part 1 27
