September 1st 1932 — Belgrade 35th FISA congress Present: 29 delegates from 11 federations, gathered together in the reception room of the “Ratnicki Dom,” the war veterans’ headquarters. Japan and Uruguay were admitted, bringing the number of FISA members to 22: — 11 ordinary members: BEL FRA ITA SUI NED ESP TCH HUN POR YUG POL. - 11 extraordinary members: EGY ROM ARG USA GRE TUR SWE BRA JPN URU DEN. The subscription was reduced from 300 to 250 gold- francs because of the increased membership and the difficulties of the times. The wearing of numbers on the oarsmens backs was dis continued, since these made it difficult to see the colour of their singlets. The latter were sufficient in themselves for the identification of a crew’s nationality. FISA and philately A special issue of Yugoslavian postage stamps for the 1932 Europe an championships had enjoyed a great success. Eliminators and repechages (September 2nd—3rd) The winners of the heats in the 4 + and the first two in the other heats qualified for the finals. The other crews raced in the repechages, the winners of which went for ward to the final. 4 + : 11 started El: 1. ITA 2. YUG 3. BEL 4. ROM Eli: 1. TCH 2. FRA 3. NED 4. ESP EIII: 1. DEN 2. HUN 3. SUI RI: 1. YUG 2. BEL 3. ROM 4. ESP RII: 1. FRA 2. SUI 3. NED lx: 9 started El: 1. FRA 2. HUN 3. ITA 4. POL 5. SUI Eli: 1. TCH 2. BEL 3. YUG 4. ROM R: 1. ITA 2. SUI 3. ROM 4. YUG - POL (scra tched) 2 +: 6 started El: 1. NED 2. ITA 3. POL Eli: 1. SUI 2. BEL 3. YUG R: 1. POL 2. YUG 4-: 6 started E: 1. NED 2. SUI 3. ITA Eli: 1. YUG 2. HUN 3. BEL R: 1. ITA 2. BEL September 2nd—4th 1932 — Belgrade 33rd men’s European championships Dr. Ivo Stalio, the president of the Yugoslavian federa tion, and Milan Stefanovitch, the secretary of the Or ganising Committee of the European championships, led an excellent team. The rowing course, on a tributary of the Sava, could accommodate five boats abreast. In the open countryside and near a forest, its banks provided an effective protection from side-winds. At that time of year there was virtually no current. All the conditions necessary for an excellent regatta were there. The requi site installations had been erected on an island. Army engineers had constructed a magnificent floating bridge made of boats, especially for the regatta. Five metres wide, it must have been about 200 metres long. The grandstands, the boathouses, the landing stages, all had been built by the army and placed at the disposal of sport, that great source of human energy. The course was marked with buoys every 250 metres, and very large numbers erected on the banks acted as distance mar kers. The timing was effected by a direct line between start and finish. The timing clocks, hanging on a vertical display board, were individually stopped and started electrically. Information about the crews’ position during a race was transmitted by wireless. A transmitter had been installed on a small yacht which followed the races with a commentator on board. The commentary was am plified and broadcast over loud-speakers. 76 8 +: 8 started El: 1. TCH 2. POL 3. NED 4. BEL Eli: 1. HUN 2. FRA 3. YUG 4. SUI R: 1. YUG 2. SUI 3. NED 4. BEL The finals In the presence of His Majesty King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the finals took place, watched by an enormous crowd. More than 10,000 peo ple thronged the grandstands. The sovereign arrived in a motor-driven yacht, to be welcomed at the landing stage by members of the Yugoslavian Government. Next, Dr. Stalio, the president of the Yugoslavian rowing federation and vice-president of FISA, introduced the FISA presi dent, Rico Fioroni, and the delegates. The king shook everybody by the hand, pronouncing a few friendly words. He then took his place in the royal grandstand, just above that of the finish judges. The weather was overpoweringly hot. 4+-: 1. ITA 2. DEN 3. TCH 4. FRA 5. YUG The glorious Italian crew from the “ Pullino Club”, Olympic and European champions, deservedly retained their title. 2-: 1. SUI 2. ITA 3. BEL - YUG (Not rowed out / having sunk) Dr. Max Pfeiffer carried his 36 years lightly. Not content with victory in this event, he also rowed in the 2 + with his partner, Hans Appenzeller, but unsuccessfully.
