Coxless Pairs, Men

Lewis Clive and Hugh Edwards of Great Britain had won the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1931 and 1932, and were considered strong favorites in the coxless pairs in Los Angeles. In the opening round, they were nearly three seconds faster than anyone else, with their closest competitors being Bob Stiles and Fred Thompson of New Zealand. The final was much of the same: the New Zealanders came closer to matching the Britons, but never seriously challenged them and settled for silver. This was New Zealand’s second Olympic rowing medal, after Darcy Hadfield’s bronze in the 1920 single sculls, and its last until 1968, when their coxed fours team took the gold medal. Poland, the 1930 European Champions who had led the race until the halfway mark, snatched bronze away from the Netherlands by only 0.2 seconds.