Olympedia – Single Sculls, Men

All three winners of the Diamond Challenge Sculls since World War II, Jean Séphériadès of France, Jack Kelly, Jr. of the United States (son of three-time Olympic rowing champion Jack Kelly, Sr.), and Australian Merv Wood, were present to contend for the Olympic single sculls crown at the 1948 tournament. Kelly had also been the runner-up in 1946, while Séphériadès was the 1947 European Champion. Wood, meanwhile, had represented his nation in the coxed eights at the 1936 Games. Another notable competitor was Hans Jakob Keller of Switzerland, the 1947 European bronze medalist.

Width restrictions at Henley meant that only three boats could compete at one time. When the waves had calmed after the round one repêchage, the only surprising absentee was Keller; all the other major contenders had advanced with ease. The three-boat limit meant that only the medalists would advance to the final, and Séphériadès had the misfortune of being placed in Wood’s head, where he was defeated handily. More surprising was Eduardo Risso of Uruguay’s victory in the semi-finals, since he edged out Kelly by 0.4 seconds after coming up dramatically from behind (Kelly’s time, however, would not have been sufficient to best any of the semi-final winners). Taking the first semi-final heat was the equally-unheralded Romolo Catasta of Italy, who recorded the fastest time of the round and finished ahead of Argentina’s Tranquilo Capozzo (who would earn a gold medal in the double sculls in 1952) by over seven seconds. The final, meanwhile, was no contest: Wood finished nearly 14 seconds ahead of Risso, who in turn was over 13 seconds ahead of Catasta. Risso’s silver was an improvement on Uruguay’s previous best rowing result at the Olympics; Guillermo Douglas had won bronze in the single sculls in 1932.