Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics took place at the Henley Royal Regatta Course, Henley-on-Thames, which had long been the site of the Henley Royal Regatta, for many years (including in 1948) considered the equivalent of a World Championship in rowing. The width of the course allowed only three boats at a time to compete, which meant that all final rounds were contested between eventual medal winners. The 1948 program remained that same as it had been since 1924 and would continue to be until 1976, when it was expanded to include women and the men’s quadruple sculls. The host nation came out on top of the medal table, with two gold medals and one silver one. The United States, failing to top the rankings for only the third time, was the only other delegation to capture two gold medals, in addition to taking home bronze from the coxless fours event.

Five nations sent athletes to the Olympic rowing tournament for the first time: Mohamed El-Sayed and Faidon Matthaiou débuted for Egypt and Greece respectively in the single sculls (the latter counts only if one discounts the 1906 Interlaced Games), Portugal and Cuba made their premier appearances in the coxed fours, and an ambitious Ireland sent a crew to compete in the coxed eights, along with Portugal. Greece also sent rowers to the coxed fours and pairs events. Overall, a record 27 nations competed in the rowing events, including Finland, who had not made an appearance since 1912. There were no multiple medalists in London.