Coxless Pairs, Men

Having won the 1927 Henley Royal Regatta’s Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup, Great Britain’s Terence O’Brien and Archie Nisbet were somewhat favored to win the coxless pairs event in Amsterdam, but the field was otherwise wide open. The British duo were at least 10 seconds faster than every other nation in the opening round, with the exception of Alois Reinhard (half of the 1924-1926 European Championship-winning crew) and Willy Müller of Switzerland, who lost their heat against the Britons by two seconds. In the quarterfinals, however, O’Brien and Nisbet were dealt a surprising defeat by Americans John Schmitt and Paul McDowell, although they advanced to the semifinals by virtue of having the fastest time of the three losers. The Britons then overcame Romeo Sisti and Nino Bolzoni of Italy (later 1929 European Champions) to meet Germany’s Bruno Müller and Kurt Moeschter in the final, where they lost by 2.4 seconds and settled for a silver medal. In the third place race, the Americans vanquished the Italians to take home bronze.