Eights, Men

The eights was expected to be between the British team from the Leander Club, and the American team from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. In the first round, Great Britain was drawn against Switzerland, which had recently won the European Championship. This was a very close race but Britain prevailed. Both semi-finals were easy victories for the two favorites.

In the final, the Leander crew took the lead, getting two seats at 500 metres and five seats by the halfway mark. The Annapolis crew made their move at 1,700 metres, and did not catch the British until 50 metres from the line. The race was so close that the United States won by less than one second, although the British almost stopped, exhausted by their effort. In addition to their gold medals, the United States’ crew was awarded possession of the Challenge Prize that had been donated by Count Brunetta d’Usseaux, an Italian IOC Member. Bronze went to the Norwegian crew that had the best time in the semi-finals.