Single Sculls, Men

The reigning Olympic Champion in the single sculls and four-time winner of the Diamond Sculls (then the equivalent of a World Championship in the event), Jack Beresford, Jr., of Great Britain was not present at the 1928 Games, leaving the field in Amsterdam open. There were far more nations and competitors involved than there had been in Paris, but the favorite was probably Canada’s Joe Wright, Jr., who won the Diamond Sculls earlier that year and was the son of the great international rower Joe Wright, Sr.. In the opening round, Wright’s heat saw two of the three fastest times, with Wright edging out Bert Gunther of the Netherlands by half a second. The fastest time, however, went to Australia’s Bobby Pearce, who demolished his German opponent, Walter Flinsch, by 26 seconds with a time of 7.55.8. Pearce was a relative unknown who, due to the Henley Royal Regatta’s rules on amateurism, had been denied an opportunity to compete at that year’s Diamond Sculls.

Pearce was dominant again in the second round but, in a surprising turn of events, Wright was defeated in his heat by Josef Straka, Sr. of Czechoslovakia. Wright qualified for the quarterfinals when his opponent in the repêchage, Michelangelo Bernasconi of Italy (the 1927 European Champion), failed to finish the race. The writing, however, was on the wall, and his hopes of winning a medal were ended when he lost against David Collet of Great Britain in the quarterfinals. Pearce, meanwhile, defeated France’s Victor Saurin in the quarterfinals by 29 seconds despite stopping to let a family of ducks cross his path, which gave the Frenchman a five length lead. Pearce then bested Collet in the semifinals and advanced to face Ken Myers of the United States. The final was no contest: Pearce handily won the gold medal by almost 10 seconds. In the third-place race Collet faced Gunther, who had come back strong in the first repêchage, and captured the bronze medal. The Amsterdam gold medal was the first major victory in Pearce’s successful career: in addition to defending his Olympic crown in 1932, he was eventually allowed to compete in the Diamond Sculls, which he won in 1931, and also captured the title at the inaugural 1930 British Empire Games. In 1933 he turned professional and became World Champion, a distinction that he defended in 1934 and 1938.