Coxed Pairs, Men

Germany had fielded strong teams from both East and West over the last several years and, as the defending Olympic champions, were considered to have a high chance of success at the 1964 Games. The unified team sent Günter Bergau, Peter Gorny, and Karl-Heinz Danielowski, the reigning European Champions, to Tokyo. The coxed pairs was, however, a traditionally open event, and the United States, victors at the 1963 Pan American Games, sent a strong team consisting of Conn Findlay, a 1956 Olympic champion and 1960 bronze medalist, his long-time partner Ed Ferry, and another 1960 bronze medalist, Kent Mitchell.

The opening heats were won by the United States, France, and Poland, although the Dutch and the Soviets also had strong performances. The Soviets had entered the squad that had been runners-up at the most recent European Championships, Nikolay Safronov, Leonid Rakovshchik, and 1960 Olympic silver medalist Igor Rudakov, while Poland’s Kazimierz Naskręcki, Marian Siejkowski , and Stanisław Kozera had been the bronze medalists at that event. Both the USSR and the Netherlands advanced to the final through the repêchage, along with Czechoslovakia, with the Soviets doing so by outperforming the German trio. Surprisingly devoid of a serious challenge, the Americans won the final comfortably, while France and the Netherlands went neck and neck for silver; the former emerged on top by less than 0.3 seconds. The Dutch therefore took one of their first rowing medals of any color since 1924 (in addition to silver in the coxless pairs and bronze in the coxed fours). Argentina, although eliminated in the repêchage, managed to earn one historic distinction in this event: a member of its crew, Oscar Rompani, was competing at the age of 60, making him the oldest rower to take part in the Olympics.