The finals On Sunday, September 11th, a violent off-shore wind was blowing, with the result that certain stations had an unfair advantage. An enormous crowd lined both banks of the Amstel. Hordes of enthusiastic supporters fol lowed the races. There were swarms of cyclists, a caval cade of cars, countless spectators on the boathouse bal conies and aboard the boats moored along the quay sides. 4 + : 1. SUI 2. FRA 3. NED The crew from Zurich confirmed their already estab lished superiority with an exceptionally fast time, better than that usually recorded in similar conditions on the Amstel. lx: 1. NED 2. ITA - SUI (Not rowed out) The giant from Delft, T. Eyken, with his faultless tech nique, won in spite of his unfavourable station. It was Holland’s first European tide in FISA history. His battle with Homberger of Zurich lasted throughout the race. Having had a length’s lead at 300 metres, he was over taken by the Swiss, who led by a length at 1,000 metres. Then Homberger collided with one of the posts which marked the edge of the course, and caught a huge crab. He set off again, having lost practically all his lead; whereupon he had a second collision, with a boat. This time he lost a good length, but bravely set off again, re sumed his fine pace and gained on the Dutch sculler. Homberger’s tenacity and courage were then unbelieva ble. At 1,000 metres, half a length still separated him from his opponent. At 1,500 metres, he overtook him. He then gained a lead of three lengths. At 1,500 metres the Dutchman drew level again. The final quarter of the race was rowed at a great pace. The spectators held their breath in excitement as the fortunes of the two scullers constantly varied. Ten metres from the finish, a drama occurred. Homberger struck yet another post and cap sized. Eyken crossed the finishing line alone, followed at a great distance by the Italian, Nino Castelli. 2 + : 1. BEL 2. FRA 3. NED The young Belgians won easily, well ahead of two other very good crews. 2x: 1. NED 2. BEL - SUI (Not rowed out) In front of their own boathouse, the Dutchmen, Schleicher and Pietersee, from the “de Hoop” club, won this final after a hard fight, during most of which the Schoechlin brothers from Bienne had been in the lead. At 1,000 metres, the Swiss pair were still half a length up. 500 metres further on, the Swiss boat steered towards the Dutch double. A clash occurred, from which the Dutch boat emerged, in the lead, but holed. With a colossal effort, the Swiss overtook them, to gain a lead of three metres. The Dutch pair then regained the lead. Not far from the finish, the crew from Bienne hit the same post as Homberger in the single sculls race, with equally disastrous results. The boat broke up and sank. The Bel gian double, although a good way behind, took second place. 52 8 + : 1. SUI 2. HUN 3. BEL In spite of their magnificent start and excellent style, when caught after 1,200 metres the Hungarian crew from the Pannonia Club could not hold off the famous crew from the Grasshopper Club of Zurich, with its ex traordinary power in the water. The latter then had noth ing more to worry about. They continued to row with remarkable energy, and their progress through the water was as smooth at the end of the race as at the beginning. The fight for second place was a tough one. The Rudolf brothers added a final gold medal to their achievements of 1912-1.921: one Olympic and six European medals for Max, and four European and one Olympic for Paul. What might they not have achieved without the 1914 - 1919 break? April 23rd 1922 — Geneva 2nd FISA extraordinary congress As in 1912, the meeting took place in the Alabama room of Geneva’s town hall. Present: 14 delegates from 8 federations. The Italian member of parliament, Carlo Montu, a mem ber of the IOC since 1913 and president of the Italian National Olympic Committee since 1920, took part in the deliberations; as did, for the first time, Rico Fioroni, from Lucerne, the new president of the Swiss federation and future president of FISA. The latter was, moreover, chosen to chair the meeting. Eugene Baud, another future president of FISA, was to support him as vice-chairman of the congress. The British NARA’s request for affiliation was an impor tant item on the agenda. There were many who regretted that the ARA, its rival association, probably the largest rowing association in the world, with its 135 clubs, was still unwilling to apply for affiliation to FISA, as a result of a major disagreement over the rules concerning amateurism. In fact, its rules applying to sport were at that time the strictest of all. Its definition of the amateur oarsman stipulated that: “no person shall be considered an amateur oarsman, sculler or coxswain who has been by trade or employment, for wages, a mechanic, artisan or labourer, or engaged in any menial duty.” It is worth not ing, however, that the officials of the ARA were not totally intransigent, since they had come to arrangements with most EISA-affiliated federations, and, in particular, been members of the Committee of the Olympic Games, in which their oarsmen could not avoid having to compete against oarsmen who were not subject to the same rules as themselves. As for the NARA, it had just been select ed by the British Olympic Association, at the end of 1921, to provide the rowing team who were to take part in the next Olympic Games. Now, the ARA declared that if adherence to FISA in volved nothing more than taking part in and even or ganizing the European championships, then it would do
