August 31st 1938 — Milan 41st FISA congress Present: 30 delegates from 13 federations Only the Sforzesco casde, or “Palazzo Sforza,” an im pressive fortress, was considered beautiful and noble enough to accommodate the annual FISA congress. Louis Choisy, still attending as an experienced observer in those days, said of the president’s report: “...(it is, as) always succinct, concise and couched in cautious, skil fully measured terms. It is true that we are living on the edge of a volcano, and must tread very carefully.” ^ The Finnish federation was admitted. Its oarsmen would wear the following colours: white singlet with a horizontal blue stripe. In addition, it was reported that Soviet offi cials had sought advice about their possible affiliation. The subject of women’s rowing was body debated, producing enthusiastic reactions (from Heinrich Pauli, the president of the German federation) or hostde ones (from Maurice Mahut, the president of the French feder ation or Hans Walter, the former Swiss champion, who had become a respected teacher). Congress readily ac cepted Holland’s proposal that a questionnaire should be sent to all affiliated nations. A report summarizing the issue would then be examined by a commission before the matter was finally brought back to the supreme as sembly. The annual subscription was maintained at 225 Swiss francs, and the entry fee at 100 francs. September 2nd—4th 1938 — Milan 38th men’s European championships The Idroscalo in Milan had been built in a spot 20 minutes from the famous cathedral. A military and civil seaplane base, it formed an incredible lake, 3,000 metres long and 100 metres wide. Its depth varied be tween 3 metres and 3 metres 50. At the finish, 500 metres of terraces had been built, with five rows of seats, enabling 5,000 spectators to watch in comfort. Three days before the opening of the championships, Andre Richter, secretary of the Swiss federation, reporting on his first visit to the regatta site, spoke of his amazement upon coming across a scene of incredible activity. Two to three hundred workmen were toiling in the chaos of that huge building site. He wrote in the Swiss rowing year book - an excellent magazine, which had appeared an nually since 1906 — “We did not dare to express any doubts as to whether it would be ready in time, but it seemed to us that the championships would be taking place on a waste ground littered with stones, and with lit tle in the way of facilities. However, we had not reckoned with the Latin genius which, tike a fairy waving her mag ic wand, can conjure up a majestic casde in the middle of a desert. By September 2nd, the area had been trans formed. What had been a building site yesterday was now a verdant bank, planted with box trees. Here was a 86 garden with pleasant walks. Milan had kept its handsome promise and offered the oarsmen a unique rowing course, with wonderful facilities.” Eliminators and repechages The weather for the eliminating heats and for the repechages necessary in three events was perfectiy love ly. Its happy induence communicated itself to those in the stands and on the water. A gramophone played the music of “Sous les toits de Paris” to cover the delay in starting the first race. The crowd joined in and sang. It was all wonderfully Italian! An innovation in the timing: the races were timed not to 1/5 second, as in the past, nor to 1/10 second, but to 1/100 second. lx: 7 entered El: 1. GER 2. SUI 3. POL 4. FRA Eli: 1. ITA 2. TCH 3. HUN R: 1. POL 2. SUI 3. TCH 4. FRA 5. HUN 2 +: 9 entered El: 1. ITA 2. POL 3. FRA 4. BEL 5. SUI Eli: 1. GER 2. YUG 3. DEN 4. NED . RI: 1. YUG 2. NED 3. SUI RII: 1. DEN 2. FRA 3. POL 4. BEL Milan 1938: Rico Fioroni congratulates Scherli-Broschi (ITA)
