Rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place in Ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeer Polder, a canal in a village called Sloten in North Holland that would later become home to the 100 kilometer (62 mile) OC&C Ringvaart Regatta. The canal was small enough that the races, held near the picturesque village of Sloten, could only be run two boats at a time. The 1928 program remained that same as it had been in 1924 and would continue to be until 1976, when the program was expanded to include women. The United States fared slightly better than they had in 1924 and were the only nation to earn more than gold medal. Three countries, Japan, Monaco, and South Africa, sent rowers to compete in the Olympics for the first time, although none went home with a medal. Australia, Austria, and Poland, however, each won their first Olympic rowing medal (Australia’s was gold, thanks to the single sculling prowess of Bobby Pearce). There were no multiple medalists in Amsterdam and, in fact, only two participants competed in more than one event: Canadian Joe Wright, Jr. and Belgian Georges Anthony.