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| Event type

Coxless Pairs, Men

Date23 – 27 November 1956
StatusOlympic
LocationLake Wendouree, Ballarat, Victoria
Participants18 from 9 countries

Three of the last four European Championships in the coxless pairs had been won by Igor Buldakov and Viktor Ivanov, who were runners-up in the year that they did not win (1954) and had taken the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta (then the equivalent of a World Championship) in 1954 and 1955. This made them the heavy favorites in Melbourne, but they were not without challengers: Michel Knuysen and Bob Baetens of Belgium had won the 1953 Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup, the 1951 European Championships, silver at the 1953 and 1955 editions, bronze in 1956, and silver at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The United States was the defending champion and sent a strong team consisting of Jim Fifer and Duvall Hecht, who had earned their spot by defeating the reigning champions Charlie Logg and Tom Price. Alfred Sageder and Josef Kloimstein of Austria were silver medalists at the most recent European Championships, while Reginald Douglas and Bob Parker of New Zealand were the reigning British Empire and Commonwealth champions.

The United States was dominant in the competition: at no point in any round were they seriously challenged by another crew and they captured the gold medal with ease. Belgium was eliminated in the opening round following a surprisingly poor performance, while New Zealand failed to make the cut in the semi-finals, leaving the Soviet Union, Austria, and Australia to scramble for the final two podium spots. Australia began with a huge push that saw them briefly ahead, but they were soon overtaken by the Soviet Union, and then Austria, who earned silver and bronze respectively in a final where every finisher was separated by at least seven a half seconds.

Unfortunately, Viktor Ivanov dropped his silver medal in the waters of Lake Wendouree. He dove into the lake to try to find it along with several young schoolboys who were there but they were unsuccessful in finding it. One of the schoolboys, Andrew Hemingway, a 13-year-old student at Ballarat High School, went home but then returned to the lake to search some more. He actually stepped on the medal and was able to retrieve it. The next morning he showed it to his headmaster at school, who alerted the Ballarat City Council. Hemingway was able to return the medal to Ivanov in a ceremony at Ballarat City Hall, with Ivanov giving Hemingway a box of other medals. The story of the drowned medal is often attributed to Vyacheslav Ivanov in the single sculls, including previously by us at Olympedia and by David Wallechinsky in early editions of The Complete Book of the Olympics, but that is incorrect and the story is as given here.

PosPairNOC
1Jim Fifer / Duvall HechtUSAGold
2Igor Buldakov / Viktor IvanovURSSilver
3Alfred Sageder / Josef KloimsteinAUTBronze
4Peter Raper / Maurice GraceAUS
3 h1 r3/4Reginald Douglas / Bob ParkerNZL
3 h2 r3/4Helmut Sauermilch / Claus HeßGER
4 h1 r3/4Finn Pedersen / Kjeld ØstrømDEN
4 h2 r3/4Alvaro Banchi / Maurizio ClericiITA
3 h1 r2/4Bob Baetens / Michel KnuysenBEL

Round One

Date23 November 1956 — 10:15
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to semi-finals

Heat #1

PosLanePairNOCTime
1Reginald Douglas / Bob ParkerNZL7:32.6Q
2Peter Raper / Maurice GraceAUS7:37.2Q
3Alvaro Banchi / Maurizio ClericiITA7:41.2

Heat #2

PosLanePairNOCTime
1Helmut Sauermilch / Claus HeßGER7:30.1Q
2Finn Pedersen / Kjeld ØstrømDEN7:36.6Q
3Bob Baetens / Michel KnuysenBEL7:45.6

Heat #3

PosLanePairNOCTime
1Jim Fifer / Duvall HechtUSA7:19.5Q
2Igor Buldakov / Viktor IvanovURS7:29.9Q
3Josef Kloimstein / Alfred SagederAUT7:37.0

Round One Repêchage

Date24 November 1956 — 10:30
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to semi-finals
PosLanePairNOCTime
1Josef Kloimstein / Alfred SagederAUT7:51.6Q
2Alvaro Banchi / Maurizio ClericiITA8:07.4Q
3Bob Baetens / Michel KnuysenBEL8:14.2

Semi-Finals

Date26 November 1956 — 10:30
FormatTop two finishers in each heat advanced to final

Heat #1

PosLanePairNOCTime
1Igor Buldakov / Viktor IvanovURS8:41.3Q
2Josef Kloimstein / Alfred SagederAUT8:42.4Q
3Reginald Douglas / Bob ParkerNZL8:44.7
4Finn Pedersen / Kjeld ØstrømDEN8:55.1

Heat #2

PosLanePairNOCTime
1Jim Fifer / Duvall HechtUSA8:37.7Q
2Peter Raper / Maurice GraceAUS8:48.2Q
3Helmut Sauermilch / Claus HeßGER8:52.3
4Alvaro Banchi / Maurizio ClericiITA9:11.1

Final Round

Date27 November 1956 — 15:00
PosLanePairNOCTime
1Jim Fifer / Duvall HechtUSA7:55.4
2Igor Buldakov / Viktor IvanovURS8:03.9
3Josef Kloimstein / Alfred SagederAUT8:11.8
4Peter Raper / Maurice GraceAUS8:22.2