Single Sculls, Men

The defending Olympic champion in the single sculls was Vyacheslav Ivanov of the Soviet Union and he was favored to retain his crown in Rome. Ivanov had won the last two editions of the European Championships, come in third in 1957 and 1958, and had been runner-up in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta in the same years. He was aided in the fact that his most significant challenger, Australia’s Stuart MacKenzie, got sick prior to the race and did not compete. By 1960 MacKenzie was on his fourth of six consecutive victories at the Diamond Challenge Sculls, the reigning British Empire and Commonwealth Games champion, a two-time European Champion (1957 and 1958), and an Olympic silver medalist (1956). Another potential threat was Teodor Kocerka of Poland, who had a bronze medal in the event from the 1952 Summer Olympics in addition to numerous victories and podium finishes at the European Championships and the Diamond Challenge Sculls. The only other European Championship medalist from the past four years was Germany’s Klaus von Fersen, who had been runner-up four consecutive times, but he did not compete in Rome.

The fastest time in the opening round went to James Hill of New Zealand, the runner-up at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, while Ivanov and Italy’s Savino Rebek won the other two heats. Kocerka was third in Ivanov’s heat, but qualified for the final with the fastest time in the repêchage. The race for gold was no contest: Ivanov defended his title by a comfortable margin of over six seconds, leaving Kocerka and James Hill to compete with Achim Hill of Germany for the remaining podium spots. In a close finish, Achim Hill pulled ahead of Kocerka at the end and captured silver, leaving the Polish competitor with a bronze medal.