23 July 2024
By Greg Denieffe
Greg Denieffe continues his Parisian bromance from yesterday.
Without doubt, the eights event was the blue ribband event of the 1924 Paris Olympic rowing programme. One could argue that it was this event that finally put rowing on the Olympic map. Thirteen countries entered the competition; three: Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Switzerland withdrew before the draw, leaving ten to go to post. It was a truly global event, with crews travelling from North America, South America and Australia to compete against the best of mainland Europe. Great Britain sent a crew, half of the Thames Rowing Club winners of The Grand at Henley, but it is doubtful if it was faster than either Cambridge University, who declined to take part in trials, or Leander, who did not want to replace their ineligible American stroke.
It is also an event that has captured the attention of HTBS avids. There are several articles about the Australian crew from Murray Bridge and about the 2016 documentary-film Paris or the Bush that tells their remarkable story. There are even more articles about the American crew from Yale University and in particular, their 7-man, Benjamin Spock, famous paediatrician, author of 60 books and US presidential candidate in 1972.
Whilst the rowing events took place over five days between the 13th and 17th July, the eights programme was raced on just two with three heats and a single repêchage on the 15th, and the final on the 17th. Heat winners qualified for the final, and the last-placed crews were eliminated.
Great Britain won Heat 1 ahead of Belgium, Argentina and France, who was eliminated.
Canada: Arthur Bell • Bob Hunter • William Langford • Harold Little • Jack Smith • Warren Snyder • Norman Taylor • Laurie Wallace • Ivor Campbell (cox).
The United States easily won Heat 2 in a time of 5:51.0 which was 13 seconds faster than the British time. Canada finished second and advanced to the repêchage. The Netherlands took the final position and exited the competition.
Heat 3, the slowest, was won by Italy. Australia, who that morning had rowed 26 miles on the River Seine from their base to Argenteuil, beat Spain for the final place in the repêchage.
Only one crew from the repêchage would have a chance of Olympic glory. Canada took their opportunity and would go on to prove their worth in the final. Argentina beat Australia with Belgium completing the field.
The final itself was not much of a spectacle as the United States recorded an easy victory by more than 15 seconds. The Canadians, represented by the University of Toronto, took silver, three-quarters of a length ahead of the Italian crew, who contained only one man born in Italy. Great Britain finished fourth, a half-length further behind. The U.S.A. won the eights four years earlier in Antwerp and would remain Olympic Champions until 1960 when they could only finish fifth in Rome.
1st United States of America 6:33.4
2nd Canada 6:49.0
3rd Italy NTT.
As there is a sculler on the poster for the above film, and as it states “All sporting events” are presented, one can presume that there is some footage of the rowing events. An original copy of the poster is for sale on eBay for almost €1,000/£830, but I have not found the film online.
However, just weeks ago, a co-production by Gaumont-Pathé Archives, TV Presse Productions, and Public Sénat uploaded a 68-minute film by Marie-Laurence Rincé to YouTube. The film, 1924, le Paris des Jeux Olympiques has brief rowing pieces at 1:37, 1:07:42 (a full 10 seconds), and 1:16:49.
In February 2021, a twenty-year planning project came to fruition with the opening of the Murray Bridge Regional Rowing Centre. Also unveiled was a nearby monument to the Murray Cods, as the legendary 1924 Olympians from South Australia became known. They overcame astounding odds to represent Australia in Paris, and as mentioned above, their exploits were told in the 2016 documentary-film Paris or the Bush.
The film was first shown in cinemas in South Australia before being split into two one-hour episodes and shown on Australian TV broadcaster ABC. A DVD release followed, but availability outside of Australia was limited.
Director Wayne Groom has recently uploaded it to his YouTube channel, and HTBS readers can now enjoy the full two-hour film. I may be biased – the Cods travelled from Paris to Ireland to compete in the 1924 Tailteann Games – but I think it is the finest rowing film ever made.
But for now, thanks to Wayne, we’ll always have Paris or the Bush.