Giovanni Steffè rowed for CC Libertas, which was then in Koper, Slovenia. In February 1947 Tito’s militia broke into the club boathouse and commandeered all the boats. In order to train, Steffè and his partner Aldo Tarlao began commuting by bicycle to the Dopolavoro Ferroviario club. That year they were Italian Champions in the pairs with in both the junior and senior divisions. Shortly after that they finished second at the European Championships.
At the 1948 Olympics, Steffè, Tarlao, and their coxswain, Alberto Radi, added another silver in the coxed pairs. After the Olympics, Steffè moved to Genova, having found work at Ansaldo, breaking up the pair. Tarlao would go on to win the next three European Championships with another partner, Giuseppe Ramani, and they would compete together at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, placing fourth. Steffè and Tarlao did not see each other again until 2007 at a meeting of Ligurian Olympians.
Italy