Jump to content

Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed pair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's coxed pairs
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Gold medal team Arthur Ayrault, Conn Findlay, and Kurt Seiffert with coach George Pocock
VenueLake Wendouree
Dates23–27 November
Competitors24 from 8 nations
Winning time8:26.1
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Arthur Ayrault
Conn Findlay
Kurt Seiffert (cox)
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck
Horst Arndt
Rainer Borkowsky (cox)
 United Team of Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ihor Yemchuk
Heorhiy Zhylin
Vladimir Petrov (cox)
 Soviet Union
← 1952
1960 →

The men's coxed pair competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree near Ballarat, Australia, from 23 to 27 November.[1] There were 8 boats (24 competitors) from 8 nations, with each nation limited to one boat in the event.[2] The event was won by the American crew, rowers Arthur Ayrault and Conn Findlay and coxswain Kurt Seiffert. It was the first victory in the event for the United States since 1932 and second overall, matching Switzerland for most among nations at that point. The United Team of Germany took silver in its debut (Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck, Horst Arndt, and cox Rainer Borkowsky). The Soviet Union earned its first medal in the event, with Ihor Yemchuk, Heorhiy Zhylin, and Vladimir Petrov (cox) taking bronze.

Background

[edit]

This was the ninth appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's coxed pair was one of the original four events in 1900, but was not held in 1904, 1908, or 1912. It returned to the programme after World War I and was held every Games from 1924 to 1992, when it (along with the men's coxed four) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.[2]

None of the 15 competitors from the 1952 coxed pair final returned. Favorite status went to Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck, Horst Arndt, and cox Rainer Borkowsky from the United Team of Germany, the reigning European champions in the event.[2]

Australia, Austria, and Chile each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. France missed the event for the first time after eight appearances; the United States had the most appearances among those competing in 1956 with seven.

Competition format

[edit]

The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912 (with the exception of 1948).[3]

With fewer boats than in 1952, the competition returned to four rounds: quarterfinals, a repechage, semifinals, and a final. However, the tournament format resulted in all eight boats reaching the semifinals round.[2]

  • Quarterfinals: There were 3 quarterfinals, with 2 or 3 boats each. Two boats from each heat (6 boats total) advanced to the semifinals; all other boats (2 boats total) went to the repechage.
  • Repechage: There was a single repechage heat, with 2 boats. The top two boats advanced to the semifinals. Thus, no boats were eliminated through the quarterfinals and repechage.
  • Semifinals: There were 2 semifinals, each with 4 boats. The winner of each heat (2 boats) advanced to the final.
  • Final: A single final, with 4 boats.

Schedule

[edit]

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 November 1956 11:45 Quarterfinals
Saturday, 24 November 1956 12:00 Repechage
Monday, 26 November 1956 14:30 Semifinals
Tuesday, 27 November 1956 16:00 Final

Results

[edit]

The following rowers took part:[2]

Quarterfinals

[edit]

Quarterfinal 1

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Ihor Yemchuk
Heorhiy Zhylin
Vladimir Petrov  Soviet Union 8:06.6 Q
2 Robert Duncan
Bruce Dickson
John Cockbill  Australia 8:15.9 Q
3 Juan Carmona
Jorge Contreras
Eusebio Ojeda  Chile 8:57.9 R

Quarterfinal 2

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Ayrault
Conn Findlay
Kurt Seiffert  United States 7:42.8 Q
2 Zbigniew Schwarzer
Henryk Jagodziński
Bertold Mainka  Poland 7:43.7 Q
3 Livien Ven
Antoon Ven
Jos Van Thillo  Belgium 8:10.6 R

Quarterfinal 3

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck
Horst Arndt
Rainer Borkowsky  United Team of Germany 8:03.3 Q
2 Josef Kloimstein
Alfred Sageder
Franz König  Austria 8:11.2 Q

Repechage

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Livien Ven
Antoon Ven
Jos Van Thillo  Belgium 9:12.7 Q
2 Juan Carmona
Jorge Contreras
Eusebio Ojeda  Chile 10:13.1 Q

Semifinals

[edit]

Semifinal 1

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Zbigniew Schwarzer
Henryk Jagodziński
Bertold Mainka  Poland 9:22.8 Q
2 Ihor Yemchuk
Heorhiy Zhylin
Vladimir Petrov  Soviet Union 9:26.2 Q
3 Livien Ven
Antoon Ven
Jos Van Thillo  Belgium 9:29.3
4 Josef Kloimstein
Alfred Sageder
Franz König  Austria 9:29.7

Semifinal 2

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck
Horst Arndt
Rainer Borkowsky  United Team of Germany 9:24.1 Q
2 Arthur Ayrault
Conn Findlay
Kurt Seiffert  United States 9:25.1 Q
3 Robert Duncan
Bruce Dickson
John Cockbill  Australia 9:37.7
4 Juan Carmona
Jorge Contreras
Eusebio Ojeda  Chile 11:03.6

Final

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Arthur Ayrault
Conn Findlay
Kurt Seiffert  United States 8:26.1
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck
Horst Arndt
Rainer Borkowsky  United Team of Germany 8:29.2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ihor Yemchuk
Heorhiy Zhylin
Vladimir Petrov  Soviet Union 8:31.0
4 Zbigniew Schwarzer
Henryk Jagodziński
Bertold Mainka  Poland 8:31.5

Results summary

[edit]
Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Quarterfinals Repechage Semifinals Final
1st place, gold medalist(s) Arthur Ayrault
Conn Findlay
Kurt Seiffert  United States 7:42.8 Bye 9:25.1 8:26.1
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck
Horst Arndt
Rainer Borkowsky  United Team of Germany 8:03.3 Bye 9:24.1 8:29.2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ihor Yemchuk
Heorhiy Zhylin
Vladimir Petrov  Soviet Union 8:06.6 Bye 9:26.2 8:31.0
4 Zbigniew Schwarzer
Henryk Jagodziński
Bertold Mainka  Poland 7:43.7 Bye 9:22.8 8:31.5
5 Livien Ven
Antoon Ven
Jos Van Thillo  Belgium 8:10.6 9:12.7 9:29.3 Did not advance
6 Josef Kloimstein
Alfred Sageder
Franz König  Austria 8:11.2 Bye 9:29.7
7 Robert Duncan
Bruce Dickson
John Cockbill  Australia 8:15.9 Bye 9:37.7
8 Juan Carmona
Jorge Contreras
Eusebio Ojeda  Chile 8:57.9 10:13.1 11:03.6

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Pairs". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Coxed Pairs, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.