73. Early Rowing in Italy

Transcription

INTERNATIONAL ROWING TURNS PROFESSIONAL
73. Early Rowing in Italy
Scipione Del Giudice – Gli Scarronzoni
National Gallery, London
A Regatta on the Grand Canal
Antonio Canaletto, c. 1740
lagoons that have provided commercial
transportation corridors since antiquity.
Among the earliest regattas in history
were those held in the Middle Ages in
Venice. In fact, the English word “regatta”
comes from the Italian.
When modern sport rowing first came of
age on the European continent in the late
Italy is well suited geographically to the
sport of rowing. It is a country with
excellent harbors along its relatively calm
Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coastlines and has a
history of rowing that goes back to before
the Romans. Much of its geographical
interior boasts navigable rivers, lakes and
728
Francesco Querini – L’uomo e la storia – La Società Canottieri nel Centenario di Fondazione
1911 Canottieri Querini di Venezia Eight
Italian Champion, European Champion
Bow Scipione Del Giudice, 2 Brenno Del Giudice, 3 Curzio Del Giudice, 4 Luigi Armellini,
5 Mario Tres, 6 Tullio Rosada, 7 Giovanni Nenzi, Stroke Gino Solesin, Coxswain Giuseppe Mion
19th and early 20th Centuries, Italy was a
major participant along with Belgium,
France and Switzerland.
Clubs were
founded on lakes such as Lago di Como and
Lago Maggiore in the north, in river towns
such as Pisa and Florence and Rome, in
harbor towns such as Genova, Livorno and
Naples, and in the city of canals, Venice, the
home of the first great star of Italian rowing.
“In 1905 in Como, Canottieri Querini
won its first Italian Championship in the
coxed-four with Scipio Del Giudice, Ecole
Olgeni, Emilio Fontanella, Finotti Antoni
and coxswain Corrado Benedettelli,
acquiring the right to participate in the XIII
European Championships in Ghent in
Belgium.
“The FISA Centenary Book 18921992: ‘In the coxed-four, victory to the
Belgian hosts, but the Venetians crossed the
finish line in second place ahead of the
French.’”2511
Scipione Del Giudice
Rowing historian Maurizio Ustolin:
“On May 16, 1901, a new rowing club was
founded in Venice, Canottieri Querini di
Venezia.2510 It took few years for them to
record their first victories.
“The first time you see the name of
Scipione Del Giudice was 1904 when he
won his first Italian Championship in a fouroared coxed open-water gig at Bocca
d’Arno. At his debut, Scipio Del Giudice
was not yet sixteen.
Canottieri Querini thus began a sevenyear series of strong showings at European
Championships, leading the way for other
Italian clubs to follow. Their stable of
young athletes, led by the first hero of
Italian rowing, Scipione Del Giudice [18881950], and eventually including two of his
brothers, established the first dynasty in
Italian rowing.
In 1906, Scipio, 17, his pair partner
Ercole Olgeni, 22, and coxswain Giuseppe
2510
named in memory of Francesco Querini, a
young officer of the Italian Royal Navy lost in
the Arctic Ocean during the attempt by the Duke
of the Abruzzi to reach the pole North.
2511
Maurizio Ustolin, Scipione Del Giudice –
Campione Veneziano, www.canottaggio.org
729
Scipione, Olgeni and Mion placed second to
their adversaries from the previous year,
Visser, Molmans and Colpaert from
Belgium.
The following year, 1909, was the highwater mark for Canottieri Querini, which
won the coxed-pair, coxed-four and eight at
the Italian Championships. Scipione and
Brenno were joined on that squad by their
15-year old brother, Curzio.
At the XVII European Championships
in Paris, the Querini won the coxed-pair and
coxed-four and came in second to France in
the eight. With the help of a new pair
partner, Luigi Armellini, Scipione had now
won his third and fourth European Gold
Medal of his career.
In 1910, Scipione Del Giudice was a
member of the winning Querini coxed-pair
and
coxed-four
at
the
Italian
Championships.
At the European
Championships, Italy was represented in the
other three traditional events, the single,
double and eight, by another Venetian club,
Canottieri Bucintoro, founded in 1882.
Ustolin:
“Against
very
hard
competition, the Querini won (for the third
consecutive year) the coxed-four and
finished second in coxed-pair with
Bucintoro, less lucky, finishing second in all
the other three races.”2513
Scipione’s medal count was now five.
In 1911, the European Championships
were held on Lake Como. Of the five events
(single, double, coxed-pair, coxed-four,
eight), the honor of representing Italy was
divided between Querini Venezia, Bucintoro
Venezia and Lario Como.
The day started with Querini losing the
coxed-four to Grasshopper Club Zürich of
Switzerland in a race so close it caused
problems for the officials.
Francesco Querini – L’uomo e la storia – La Società
Canottieri nel Centenario di Fondazione
Scipione Del Giudice
Mion won the Italian pair championship for
their club, and then went to the European
Championships in Pallanza, Italy and upset
Guillaume Visser, Urbain Molmans and
coxswain Rodolphe Clopaert of Belgium’s
Sport Nautique de Gand, the defending
champions in the pair and members of the
winning 1906 Grand Challenge Cup
eight.2512
Besides their Silver in Pallanza behind
the young Italians in the coxed-pair, that
year they would again win the coxed-four
and eight.
In 1908, Del Giudice won the Italian
Championships in the coxed-pair and coxedfour, and then at the European
Championships he won his second Gold
Medal, this time in the coxed-four with his
twin brother, Brenno Del Giudice, along
with Olgeni, Mario Tres, and coxswain
Giuseppe Mion. Then in the coxed-pair,
2513
2512
See previous chapter.
730
Bucintoro then won the
coxed-pair
with
Ercole
Olgeni, Scipione’s former
pair partner, at stroke. Home
club Lario won the single
with Giuseppe Sinigaglia
and
the
double
with
Sinigaglia
and
Teodoro
Mariani, the 1909 singles
champion.
Ustolin: “Then the day
ended with a superb victory in
the eight in which Querini
earned the first Italian title
ever in that event”2514 after
Centovent’anni in Voga
nine Silvers and seven
1920 Canottieri Bucintoro Venezia Coxed-Pair
Bronzes in eighteen years.
1920 Olympic Champion
All three Del Giudices were
Coxswain
Guido de Filip (not seen),
on board, with Scipione
Stroke
Ercole
Olgeni,
Bow Giovanni Scatturin
earning his sixth and final
European Gold Medal.
Italy had won the
Glandaz Cup in 1909 and 1911, given by
an Englishman named Whitaker, who
FISA annually to the nation that won the
donated a cup, there began an annual
largest number of European titles.
competition between Bucintoro and Querini
Ustolin: “In 1912, Bucintoro got the
on the Giudecca Canal. On 29 May 1921,
selection to represent Italy in the eight at the
the students of Del Giudice brought home
Stockholm Olympics in a race-off with their
the first victory in a very emotional race.
Venetian neighbors. The race ended in a
“Thus began Del Giudice’s career as a
collision blamed on the Querini, and there
coach, judge, referee, manager.”2515
was a consequent unpleasant fight. The
Scipione Del Giudice passed away in
Italian Rowing Federation disqualified both
1950.
clubs for one year and canceled the Italian
participation in the eight at the Olympics
Canottieri Bucintoro Venezia went on
that year.
to great international success in the coxed“After some dark years, including those
pair event.
After winning the 1911
of the Great War, the name of Scipio Del
European Championship with Enrico Bruni,
Giudice reappeared in 1921 when he and his
Scipione Del Giudice’s original pair partner
brother, Curzio, represented Italy in the
at Querini, Ercole Olgeni, won 1920
coxed-pair in Amsterdam at the XXIII
Olympic Gold and 1924 European Bronze
European Championships, but no luck.
and Olympic Silver with Giovanni
“Once he had hung up his oars, Scipione
Scatturin.
Del Giudice became his club’s coach of
In the 1930s, Bucintero’s Almiro
junior outrigger eights. On the initiative of
Bergamo and Guido Sangrin with
2514
2515
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1911 Canottieri Lario Como Double
Stroke Teodoro Mariani, Stroke Giuseppe Mariani
1911 European Champion, Lago di Como
1913 European Silver medalist, Ghent
Mariani was 1909 European Singles Champion
Sinigaglia was 1911 Singles Champion, 1912 Silver Medalist
He won the Diamond Sculls in 1914.
coxswain Luciano
European Gold, 1936
European Silver and
before the war
competition.
winners, Canottieri Pullina d’Isola (today
a part of Slovenia), went on to win Olympic
Gold in Amsterdam.
Negrini won 1935
Olympic Silver, 1937
1938 European Gold
suspended rowing
Livorno (Leghorn in English) is an
industrial port city south of Pisa on the
western coast.2516 Livornese international
rowing success began with two brothers,
Pierluigi and Roberto Vestrini, nicknamed
‘the two Moors,’ who rowed for L’Unione
Canottieri Livornesi and with coxswain
Cesare Milani first won the Italian title and
European Silver in the coxed-pair in 1926.
The story of the Del Giudice brothers
was not uncommon in 20th Century Italian
rowing. There were the three Ghiardello
brothers, Antonio, Mario and Andrea, who
rowed for Canottieri Argus in Santa
Margherita Ligure on the Tyrrhenian coast
near Portofino.
They won European
Championships in the coxed-four in 1926
and 1927. In the Italian Olympic Trials of
1928, they came in a close second despite
one of the brothers having had his appendix
removed only a few days before. The Trials
2516
known today by rowers as the home of
Cantiere Navale Donoratico and Cantiere
Filippi, makers of rowing shells.
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In 1927 they won Italian and European
Championships in both the coxed-pair and
the coxless-pair, but at the 1928 Olympics in
Amsterdam, they were eliminated in the
second round of the coxed-pair when they
capsized against the eventual Gold
Medalists, the Schöchlin brothers from
Switzerland. They won the coxed-pair once
more at the 1929 Italian and European
Championships before Pierluigi retired.
Giuseppe Sinigaglia
Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Canottieri Lario
Como, 1911 European Champion in the
single and in the double double with
Teodoro Mariani, was another Italian rowing
hero. According to The Times of London
(July 1, 1914), the 6’6” 200 cm 206 lb. 93
kg “Sini” was “one of the biggest men that
ever sat in a sculling boat at Henley.”
Besides his 1911 European titles, he was
Italian champion in greco-roman wrestling
in 1905 and European Silver Medalist in the
coxed-pair2517 in 1907 with Annibale
Baretta, the single in 1912 and the double
with Mariani in 1913. He won the Diamond
Sculls in 1914.
He was posthumously awarded the
Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor for his
service in the battle for the Cima Quattro di
San Michele during World War I.
Riefenstahl, Olympia, Teil II:Fest der Schönheit
Mario Checcacci
The Scarronzoni Technique
captured by Leni Riefenstahl
Between 1928 and 1941, the eight from
Canottieri Livornesi would earn twelve
Italian titles in the eight, one Bronze, three
Silver and two Gold Medals in the European
Championships as well as two Silver Medals
at the Olympics in Los Angeles and
Berlin.2518
In the beginning, they may have been
destined for greatness, but it was hard to tell.
At their first race they earned the pejorative
nickname gli Scarronzoni.
www.canottaggio.org: “They were all
stevedores, laborers, workers of the Port of
Livorno, people accustomed to hard
work.”2519
“At the [1928] Tuscan
championships, the movements of the
Gli Scarronzoni
In 1928, Canottieri Livornesi also
formed an eight composed Vittorio Cioni,
Enrico Garzelli, Guglielmo Del Bimbo,
Mario Del Bimbo, Dino Barsotti, Eugenio
Nenci, Enzo Favilla, Renato Tognaccini
and coxswain Mario Ghiozzi. They were
soon joined by Roberto Vestrini and
coxswain Cesare Milani from the 1927
European Champion Livorno coxed-pair.
2518
http://livorno.guidatoscana.it/calciosport/canottaggio.asp
2519
Enrico Paradisi, Addio al Mitico Oreste
Grossi, www.canottaggio.org
2517
Behind Visser, Molmans and Colpaert. See
previous chapter.
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Il Corriere di Livorno
1932 Unione Canottieri Livornesi Eight
Olympic Silver Medal, Alamitos Bay
Coxswain Cesare Milani, Stroke Vittorio Cioni, 7 Mario Balleri,
6 Renato Bracci, 5 Dino Barsotti, 4 Roberto Vestrini,
3 Gugliemo Del Bimbo, 2 Enrico Garzelli, Bow Renato Barbieri
oarsmen (for the most part habituated to
fixed-seat rowing) were awkward and
inelegant. They rowed with force and
without technique. The boat ‘scarrocciava’
or “drifted left and right,”2520 as they say in
nautical terms.
“People who saw them rowing called
them ‘Scarronzoni,’ and the name stuck to
all Livornese crews through 1948.”2521
At their first Olympic appearance, the
1932 Livorno squad represented quite a
contrast in maturity to the American and
British university eights in Long Beach.
The Cambridge Blue Boat, winners of the
Boat race and the Grand Challenge Cup,
averaged 22 years of age, and the undefeated
California boys just 21.
The Italians
averaged 28.
The Italian boat had been together
virtually unchanged for four years and
boasted thirty-two individual European
Championship Medals. The Los Angeles
Olympics was the first international
competition for both the Brits and the
Americans.
The Italians would make use of their
physical maturity to set a torrid pace down
the course, not dropping below 38 strokes
per minute. They beat Cambridge in their
opening heat by six seconds in the fastest
1932
The main coach of gli Scarronzoni was
Mario Ghiozzi, “a scholar of rowing
styles.”2522 He had been their first coxswain
in 1928 and was later head technical
commissioner of the Italian National Team.
2520
http://www.marconcinican.it
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarronzoni
2522
Maurizio Ustolin, Il canottaggio e la
photografia d’autore, www.canottaggio.org
2521
734
UCLA Film/TV Archive
Olympic Silver Medal, Alamitos Bay
0°, +45° to -40°, 0-7, 0-10, 0-10, rating 39
Last full stroke of Olympic final, so a little ragged.
Classical Technique, hybrid-concurrent Kernschlag
Strong leg drive to establish body suspension.
Heads lifted and dropped in effort to maintain acceleration to release.
lot of throwing of heads on the pullthrough,
and they seemed to row with tremendous
heart.
Body angle forward at entry was at the
practical maximum of +45˚, suggesting
time of the regatta, beating the time of the
U.S. in the other heat despite the fact that
the Americans had been pressed hard until
the end and had sprinted at 41.
The Livornesi were a team that rowed
with force more than finesse. There was a
735
British influence, and they rowed their oars
into the water in the Fairbairn manner.
Force application was hybrid-concurrent
Kernschlag with crushing leg drive
coordinated with an extraordinary 85˚ of
dramatic back arc to very generous layback,
another indication of British influence, albeit
an amalgam of Thames Waterman and
Fairbairn.
Where they deviated most from the
British norm was in their working-class
attitude and work ethic. Rowing historian
Maurizio Ustolin relates an anecdote about
coxswain Cesare Milani taken from Oreste
Grossi’s
memoir,
Canottaggio
alla
Ribalta.2523
“At the presentation of the young scions
of Cambridge University, opponents of the
Scarronzoni at [the 1932 Olympics], Milani
realized that every rower was being
described as a ‘peer of England,’ a title of
nobility in the United Kingdom. After
hearing yet another ‘peer of England,’
Milani cried out from his position of short
stature, ‘Blessed are you who are equal!
Livorno values everyone!’”2524
Cesare Milani
The blue collar world of communitybased Italian clubs full of rowers with fulltime jobs was indeed a far cry from Britain’s
University-based sport for gentlemen of
leisure.
Ustolin:
“Even
more
typically
Livornese is another curious episode that
highlights the great pride of the Scarronzoni
crew:
Il Tirenno di Livorno: “They were
Pocock Rowing Center
Olympic Silver Medal, Langersee
Bow Gugliemo Del Bimbo, 2 Dino Barsotti, 3 Oreste Grossi,
4 Enzo Bartolini, 5 Mario Checcacci, 6 Dante Secchi,
7 Ottorino Quaglierini, Stroke Enrico Garzelli, Coxswain Cesare Milani
training on the Lago di Maggiore at
Pallanza and were leaving for a light row
when one of the members laid down the
gauntlet of challenge to his Livornese
2523
“Rowing in the Spotlight”
Maurizio Ustolin, Il canottaggio e la
photografia d’autore, www.canottaggio.org
2524
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Olympic Silver Medal, Langersee
0°, +30° to -35-40°, 0-7, 0-10, 6-10, Classical Technique, Schubschlag, rating 32
Leg drive remains strong early, but motion is concurrent.
Heads lift and drop in effort to maintain acceleration to release.
teammates, saying something extremely
effective but seldom heard in international
rowing circles: ‘Il budello di su’ mà a chi
molla.’2525
“After several hours of hard rowing,
recalls Grossi, ‘A motorboat arrived to stop
us. We had crossed into Swiss waters [20
miles or 30 km up the lake from
Pallanza].’”2526
1932 Olympic Final
The Olympic final in 1932 was a race
for the ages. Nobody cracked for 2,000
meters!
The four contestants, Italy, Great
Britain, Canada and the United States, broke
from the stakeboats, and the Americans
quickly gained a deck. With both the U.S.
and Italy at 40, gli Scarronzoni got to within
three feet at the 1,000. The New York Times
called the boats even from 1,200 to 1,500
and had the Italians ahead with 100 meters
2525
loosely and gently translated as “gutless like
your mother.”
2526
Luciano di Majo, Era l’ultomo scarronzone,
Il Tirenno di Livorno, February 16, 2008, p. 6
737
to go.2527 Livorno sprinted at 42, and
California surpassed them at 44.
The last few strokes were ragged in the
Scarronzone boat. As can be seen in the
illustration in this chapter, several members
had lost their body swing and layback. The
Italian boat crossed the line perhaps three
feet behind.
and the U.S. and Britain were even further
back.
Gli Scarronzoni maintained their form
and discipline in the second 1,000.
Germany pressed them and even cut the
margin to just a few feet, but the Italians
held firm to the end.
The problem was the University of
Washington on the far side of the course.
As they had throughout their college season
back home,2528 they moved through to the
lead in the last 200 meters. Canottieri
Livornesi had their second Olympic Silver
Medal.
1936
A European Silver in 1933 and Bronze
in 1934 followed the Los Angeles Olympics.
A new eight with only four 1932 holdovers
won the 1936 Italian Championships and
qualified for the Berlin Olympics. Barsotti
moved from 5 to 2, Del Bimbo from 3 to
bow, and Enrico Garzelli moved from 2 up
to stroke, and Milani continued as coxswain.
The average age remained 28.
Technique had changed significantly
from 1932. Gone was the +45˚ body angle
forward, replaced with a more mainstream
+30˚.
Gone, too, was the dominating
Kernschlag leg drive, replaced by
concurrent Schubschlag legs and back to the
same -40˚ layback as 1932. The intent must
to have been more efficient down the course
and lose less technical discipline as the
finish line approached.
They also seemed to have had a much
more relaxed approach to the regatta
progression than they had in 1932. Rather
than go all out in their opening heat, with
only one to qualify they let Hungary lead
them by a deck at the 1,000 and win by a 1.5
seconds. The Italians then qualified for the
final the following day in what amounted to
a paddle for them against Japan, Yugoslavia
and Brazil.
In the final in slow headwind conditions,
they rowed a long powerful 32 and led
Germany by a third of a length at the 1,000.
The rest of the field seemed out of it. Heat
winner Hungary had lost nearly a length,
2527
Gli Scarronzoni won their second
European title in 1937, but the war soon put
an end to sports in Europe.
Afterwards, the Scarronzoni era ended
in 1948 with the retirement of the last of the
Old Guard.
Many went on to help
administer the sport of rowing in Livorno
and in the Italian federation. They had come
to symbolize their community, their region
and their culture.
Years later, Il Corriere di Livorno
quoted Oreste Grossi, 3-man at the Berlin
Olympics: “‘We were very close,’ he used to
repeat to those who asked about the Silver
Medal in ‘36. ‘We loved one another like a
family. It was thanks to that that we
succeeded in winning all those medals.’”2529
Grossi was the last of gli Scarronzoni
when he passed away at the age of 96 in
2008.
2528
See chapter xxx
Enrico Paradisi, Addio al mitico Oreste
Grossi, Il Corriere di Livorno, February 17,
2008, p. 11
2529
See Chapter xxx
738
77. Internationale Rotsee Ruderregatta
The Lake of the Gods
1980 Regatta Program
1892 Internationale Luzern Regatta
Vierwaldstättersee, with the city hotels as background.
immediately comes to mind, and it has
hardly changed since the first regatta there
in 1839. Today it is unique on the planet
and irreplaceable in the hearts of rowers.
But there is one other race course in the
world, one modern rowing venue that stands
above the rest, and that is Luzern.2530
Luzern is the largest city in central
Switzerland, the capital of the canton of
Luzern in lake country foothills of the Swiss
Alps at an altitude of 430m or 1,400 ft.
Today there are many famous artificial
rowing courses.
The Bosbaan in
Amsterdam,
Idroscalo
near
Milan,
Xochimilcho
in
Mexico
City,
Feldmoching-Oberschleißheim
near
Munich,
Holme
Pierrepont
near
Nottingham, Schinias near Marathon and
Dorney Lake near Eton have literally been
created from open fields or swamps and
wetlands.
Each has been the site of
triumphs and tragedies. Each has stories to
tell.
Other courses have taken advantage of
existing bodies of water, often adding
temporary
infrastructure.
Henley
2530
“Lucerne” in French and English, “Lucerna”
in Italian and “Luzern” in German, and they
speak German in that part of Switzerland.
739
Wikipedia
Die Kapellbrücke, spanning the Reuss River in medieval Luzern
With much of its medieval charm preserved,
the city straddles the Reuss River as it
empties into the Vierwaldstättersee,2531 a
114km² lake that meanders through four
cantons, hence the name. One of Luzern’s
most
famous
landmarks
is
the
Kapellbrücke,2532 a 204m wooden bridge
across the Reuss originally built in 1333.
Internationale Ruderregatta Luzern began to
be held.
In 1908, the European Championships
came to Luzern for the first time. There four
nations and five events. By the arrival of the
European Championships for a second time
in 1924, eleven nations took part, and
Switzerland won five of the seven events.
In 1931, women’s events were added to
the annual regatta.
Rowing in Luzern
Der Göttersee
Organized amateur rowing began in
Luzern with the founding of See-club
Luzern in 1881. They held their first
regatta in front of the great hotels of the city
on the Vierwaldstättersee in 1883.
In 1903, the Regattavereins Luzern
was founded, followed by Ruder-Club
Reuss Luzern in 1904, and the annual
Luzern Regatta Program, 1980:
“Unacceptable water conditions, mainly
turbulent waves and increasing shipping
traffic, forced the organizers to seek a new
stretch of water for suitable for the
regatta.”2533
Just over a low ridge from the city, less
than a kilometer from the Kapellbrücke, is
2531
Lake of the Four Forested Cantons,
familiarly referred to as Lake Lucerne.
2532
Chapel Bridge
2533
740
Kalt-Bucher Druck
The site of the Internationale Rotsee RuderRegatta
The Rotsee from the north. The finish line is to the right.
The city of Luzern is situated in the middle distance
straddling the end of the Vierwaldstättersee.
situated the Rotsee,2534 around 150m. wide,
just over 2,000m. long, sheltered from wind
by surrounding hills and looking like the
gods had created it just for rowing. In 1933,
the annual regatta was moved there.
Tomi Keller, for many years the head
of FISA: “The Rotsee is ideal for rowing
events. Not only does its location between
two extended slopes vest it with a particular
scenic charm – it also provides fair and
equitable conditions to all participants.”2535
Fredy Bachmann, 1972 Swiss Olympic
Silver Medalist: “I am completely in love
2534
2535
with the Rotsee and its fabulous
surroundings. Here it is certain that only the
best will win.”2536
The Swiss Rowing Championships
were first held on the Rotsee in 1933,
followed by the European Rowing
Championships in 1934. The first post-war
European Championships were held on the
Rotsee in 1947. FISA held the first-ever
World Rowing Championships on the
Rotsee in 1962. When women were added
to the World Championships in 1974, it was
Red Lake
2536
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The Rotsee Finish Line from the North
rowing event alongside the World
Championships or Olympics. Just eight
weeks before the [2004 Athens Olympic]
Games begin, Lucerne has seen the firmest
of pecking-orders turned on their heads.
Now coaches and athletes will be
scrutinising the Rotsee results, and working
on their conclusions in extended training
camps.”2537
Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich, 2004: “The
Rotsee offered a day full of splendid races –
some in a hailstorm, some with other
surprises. Upsets like the new U.S. coxless-
at Luzern, and the Worlds have returned to
the Rotsee in 1982 and 2001.
Since the founding of the annual World
Cup series of summer regattas in 1990,
Luzern has been included every year with
the sole exception of 2001, when the World
Championships were held there. No other
regatta has been so honored.
History has been made over and over on
the Rotsee, and we will return there many
times in this book.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich, 2004:
“Without a hint of arrogance, Lucerne can
rightly claim to host the premier global elite
2537
742
www.ruderwelt-luzern.ch
four beating Canada and the famous Britons
are what makes rowing so exciting.2538”2539
Among rowers around the world, the
Rotsee has become known as der
“Göttersee,” the Lake of the Gods.
2538
2539
See Chapter xxx.
www.ruderwelt-luzern.ch
743
75. Italy After World War II
Moto Guzzi
Canottieri Moto Guzzi
www.geocities.com
canottaggio.org
1947 Canottieri Moto Guzzi Coxless-Four
European Champions, Rotsee
In Italy, the post-World War II years
belonged to Canottieri Moto Guzzi, a small
club organized for employees of the
motorcycle plant in the small town of
Mandello del Lario on Lake Como. The
magic began as four young factory workers
prepared
for
the
1947
European
Championships.
the world, the sport finally returned to
competition, the European Rowing Championships are to be celebrated on the waters
of the Rotsee, but in reality it is not just
European as it is open to the strongest
nations on the planet, the United States in
particular.”2541
Guzzi bow-man Franco Faggi: “The
trip [to Luzern] was made by train in
economy class because an automobile would
have cost too much. The boats were stowed
inside an old freight wagon left over from
the war.
We had no international
experience, and all the Italian hopes were
concentrated on the coxed-pair from
Rowing historian Danilo Francescano: “Rowing in these very difficult years,
is to practice a sport still little known, stingy
with recognition and rewards, but it can also
contribute to the rebirth of an Italy put on its
knees by war, and for Giuseppe Moioli,
Elio Morille, Giovanni Invernizzi and
Franco Faggi, modest workers between 20
and 21years of age united by their passion
for a discipline made up of hard work, sweat
and sacrifice, it is really so.
“Luzern,2540 summer 1947. Thanks to
the hospitality of the Swiss town, untouched
by the terrible conflict that has devastated
2540
2541
Danilo Francescano, Il “Quattro senza” di
Giuseppe Moioli, www.storiedisport.it/schede/
canottaggio/
See previous chapter.
744
1947-52 Canottieri Moto Guzzi Coxless-Four
Bow Franco Faggi 5’8” 173 cm 159 lb. 72 kg, 2 Giovanni Invernizzi 6’1” 186 cm 177 lb. 80 kg,
3 Elio Morille 5’10” 178 cm 170 lb. 77 kg, Stroke Giuseppe Moioli 5’11” 180 cm 175 lb. 79 kg
Libertas di Capodistria and the eight from
Canottieri Varese.
“Giovanni and I were 21 years old, and
Moioli and Morille were only 20. Four local
boys from the countryside leaving familiar
surroundings for the first time to challenge
the world. Even within the Italian team, all
the attention went to Capodistria and the
flagship Varese crew.
“We were definitely the forerunners of
doping, even if our ‘EPO’ was rather special
because it was made of a couple of bottles of
local Olcio wine, produced in the Moioli
vineyard,2542 who had also packed for us
refreshments consisting of a pair of sausages
and a large wedge of cheese.
“Contrary to what is happening today
with athletes who can barely carry the boat
from trailer to the racks, upon us fell the task
of unloading the boats from the freight car
and transporting them with a cart pulled by a
horse from the station to the Rotsee, which
is not just around the corner in Lucerne. I
remember that even Rossi, the federation
secretary, rolled up his sleeves and helped us
in the work.”2543
Stroke-man Giuseppe Moioli: “We
were not well known internationally, and
2543
Qtd. by Bruno Carissimo, 1947: comincia la
leggenda Canottieri Moto Guzzi, La Provincia di
Lecco, June 12, 2007, www.canottaggio.org
2542
You can still visit Moioli e Rizzi Enoteca in
Mandello del Lario.
745
Storia di un Mito
3 Elio Morille
0°, +40° to -30°, 0-10, 0-10, 0-10
Classical Technique,
concurrent Schubschlag
Long back swing.
Strong surge to release.
when we went out training we were watched
with curiosity about our style of rowing, but
caused no apprehension for our rivals.”2544
As for idiosyncratic body mechanics,
the Moto Guzzi four shared this with gli
Scarronzoni, another group of well-muscled
Italian artisans who worked extremely hard,
long distance outings and had undeniable
world-class speed despite an awkward
appearance.
In historical perspective, the Moto
Guzzi four had a Fairbairnesque lack of
concern for what was going on inside the
gunwales in favor of what was going on at
the blade.
The pullthrough was fully
concurrent Classical Technique.
Force
application was Schubschlag, as can be
surmised from the early arm draw and the
steady leg and back motion. Arms, backs
and legs began motion together at the entry
and ended together at the release. The goal
was moving the boat.
During their spurts, the rhythm was
unique. The motion of the pullthrough
Technique
To their opponents, the technique of the
1947-52 Moto Guzzi coxless-four must have
seemed strange because of the amount of
early arm break that they rowed with, but
the rhythm they set was beautifully smooth.
This is typical of a crew that has trained
through long rows at low stroke. The
Conibear crews of the same era in America
are good examples.
2544
746
Storia di un Mito
Canottieri Moto Guzzi Coxless-Four
0°, +40° to -30°, 0-10, 0-10, 0-10
Classical Technique, concurrent Schubschlag
appears smooth and “patient” with no
shortening at either end, but the recovery
was lightning fast with a concerted effort to
get in as many of these patient strokes in per
minute. At the end of a spurt, stroke-man
Moioli visibly slowed the hands coming out
of bow for a bit of slow-fast recovery. The
pullthrough maintained its smooth, patient
appearance.
other boats. Then the rating was dropped,
and the boat would respond to attacks from
behind when necessary.
In this era, crews did not row a
consistent pace for 2,000 meters. Races
were won and lost on spurts. The Moto
Guzzi four was devastating for 20 to 30
strokes, and they could repeat their moves as
often as the competition required.
Race Strategy
1947 European Championships
From the very beginning of the club’s
history, the race strategy was fairly typical
of the era. Shortly after the start came a big
effort to take the lead and separate from the
Moioli: “The big favorite was
Switzerland who had a rowing great in Kurt
Schmid [6’3” 190 cm 187 lb. 85 cm], big as
747
a wardrobe, and they were favored in both
the coxed- and coxless-four.
“In the heat, we raced Czechoslovakia,
one of the nations favored, which imposed a
furious rhythm to the race, a challenge that I
accepted willingly so that at three-quarters
distance, we clearly separated from all the
others. We were leading, and there were
two to advance from the first heat, so we
could take it easy, but I never liked the idea
of arriving second, so I took the stroke way
up while my classmates were asking me to
slow down. We beat the Czechs clearly,
scoring the fastest time of the heats, and
from that moment our reputation went up,
and some reporters started talking about the
Italian coxless-four as a possible
surprise.”2545
Faggi: “In the final, we stayed with the
group for the first 500 meters, then Moioli
hit the turbo, and night fell for our
opponents.”2546
Francescano: “The race was over, and
their triumphant arrival was recorded in the
history of the Rotsee. La Canottieri Guzzi
was Champion of Europe!”2547
Faggi: “At the trailers, we ran into the
Swiss rower Schmid, who had not taken
well his defeat at the hands of four Italian
boys who had presumed to fight him in his
home.
“He vowed that he would win the next
time, something that never happened
because until 1952 we were never beaten,
even in a heat.”2548
Kurt Schmid and his Seeclub Zug
partner, Hans Kalt, later won the 1950
European Championship in Milan in the
coxless-pair. They also won Bronze in the
1952 Olympics.
Faggi: “On our return to Mandello, we
were much feted by the club and by the
Director of Moto Guzzi, Bonelli, who had a
great admiration for us. It was the first time
that Moto Guzzi had earned the highest
recognition in a sport that was not
motorcycle racing.’”2549
1948 Olympics
Francescano: “For new champions,
training was something more than athletic
preparation. It was a mental process, a
physical necessity. Morille would recount
that typically on Monday afternoons,
traditionally devoted to rest after the races
Sunday, the four would take their leaves
after work with plans to get back together
the next day. Just as typically, shortly
thereafter they would run into each other on
the streets of Mandello, resolutions of rest
would be forgotten, and the boat would be
lowered into the water to grind tens of
kilometers.
“The dream of the four, of course, had
only one name: London 1948. All the
preparations of coach Angelo Galdino
Alippi (a former coxswain, also a worker at
Guzzi) was aimed at that goal, which
seemed within reach.
“The end of July 1948 arrived quickly,
and the four workers left Italy for the
English capital. London was only just
starting to recover from the terrible bombing
during the war. It was a miracle that they
could host the Olympics. The Thames was
an optimal training site, and under the
2545
2546
2547
canottaggio/
2548
2549
748
Official Report XIV Olympiad
1948 Men’s Coxless-Four Final
1 ITA 6:39.0, 2 DEN 6:43.5, 3 USA 6:47.7
watchful eye of Galdino Alippi, the quartet
soon regained a state of enviable shape.
“There is little to say about the Olympic
competition.
Guzzi was definitely the
strongest crew, and no one in the heats or in
the final was able to pose the least
resistance.
The finish-line photographs
showed the enormous superiority of Moioli
and associates, second-place Denmark
arriving at the finish line four and a half
seconds back and the U.S. Bronze Medalists
at 8.7 seconds.”2550
Corriere della Sera: “The Italian four
was carried into the lead, and after a
hundred meters had already gained threequarters of a length on the Danes and a
length and a half on the Americans. To be
truthful, the latter were always detached and
never took active part in the struggle.
“At the first shore point at five hundred
meters, the announcer reported that the gap
was a length and a half between the Italian
crew and the Danes and that the Italians
were striking at 32 beats per minute.
“At seven hundred and fifty meters a
new alert: the Italian team with a two-length
advantage, 34 beats per minute. For the
others, the positions had not changed, apart
from the fact that the Americans had lost
more ground.
“A bit of glory.
“And so we arrived at fifteen hundred
meters. Now binoculars were unnecessary.
One could make out the shells, distinguish
the rhythmic movements of the rowers and
the blades glinting while exiting the water.
“At this time the announcer advised us
that the gap between Italy and Denmark was
just a length. Will they resist the burning
final sprint of the Danes? We trembled
because we felt that the Italians were a bit
tired.
2550
canottaggio/
749
“The four boys from Mandello del Lario
had obviously taken a bit of a breather
before attacking the finish, and in fact in the
last two hundred meters the pace became
overwhelming and we saw them cross the
finish line without palpitations with more
than two lengths of advantage. In vain did
the Danes call on all their energies.
“At the finish, we had the strength to
shout and smile, and their opponents almost
struck their oarlocks.
“The four athletes who have given us
this new victory are Moioli, Morille,
Invernizzi and Faggi. It is good for us to
remember the names, since the sport of
rowing offers no money and only a
modicum of glory.”2551
Francescano: “The quartet Guzzi, the
only case ever of a crew consisting entirely
of workers, entered the history of boating.
“Unfortunately for our boys, the prize
that awaited them was far from the usual of
today. A Moto Guzzi and a shift in
employee category. That’s all. But the
times were what they were, and Moioli,
Morille, Invernizzi and Faggi regretted
nothing. That’s for sure.
“Above all, the victories did not stop on
London that afternoon, and the following
years saw the four to rack up victories across
the continent. In 1949 and 1950, the Guzzi
boys again climbed to the top step of the
European podium.
The formidable
adventure continued until the Games in
Helsinki in 1952, when, not used to the salty
waters of the fjords, they lost their title and
ended their four-year unbeaten streak.
“It was the last act of a legend. It was
time to pass the baton to other great teams,
even if Moioli continued to race and win
European Championships.
“Today Invernizzi and Morille are no
longer with us, but Franco Faggi continues
to regale with his tales of the epic Guzzi
coxless-four. If you pass by a part of the
Lago di Como, and you happen to hear
someone shouting in dialect to the boats in
the water, move closer. You may encounter
a young man of eighty years directing like
an iron sergeant the new generation of
rowing. Of course, only if it is not the
period of pruning or harvesting and Joseph
Moioli can forget for a while his beloved
vines.”2552
1956
After 1952, only Giuseppe Moioli
continued rowing. With new teammates, he
stroked the Moto Guzzi coxless-four to the
1954 European title on the Bosbaan and the
1956 titles in Bled. The team was deeper,
with the Moto Guzzi coxed-four winning
Bronze in Bled.
This next generation of Moto Guzzi
fours is best remembered today, a halfcentury later, for the unique arrangement of
its riggers.
Bill Lomas, Grand Prix Champion
motorcycle racer: ‘At Moto Guzzi, to ride
and work for them was like being part of a
family. Ing. Giulio Carcano, their chief
engineer, was the most approachable genius
I have ever met.
‘Ing. Carcano could turn his talents to
anything. Moto Guzzi had a big rowing
club, its members all employees. In ‘55, the
coxed-four and coxless-four teams were
picked to represent Italy in the Olympic
Games. The boats always had a slightly
unsteady twisting motion. Carcano reasoned
if this twisting could be eliminated, the boats
would go faster. He rearranged the position
of the oars, instead of left-right-left-right, he
set them in a left-right-right-left configuration.
2552
canottaggio/
2551
Tre Vittorie all’Italia, Il Nuovo Corriere
della Sera, August 10, 1948
750
John Cooke
1956 Canottieri Moto Guzzi Coxed-Four
Olympic Gold Medal, Lake Wendouree
Bow Romano Sgheiz 6’2” 187 cm 185 lb. 84 kg, 2 Angelo Vanzin 166 lb. 75 kg,
3 Alberto Winkler 166 lb. 75 kg, Stroke Franco Trincavelli 6’1” 185 cm 198 lb. 90 kg,
Coxswain Ivo Stefanoni 5’5” 165 cm 121 lb. 55 kg
0°, +40° to -30°, 0-10, 0-10, 0-10, Classical Technique, concurrent Schubschlag
Relaxed posture at entry and release, high arc to back swing.
International debut of the “Carcano tandem” or Italian rig.
the Vancouver/British Columbia four2554 set
a time 5.3 seconds faster in winning their
heat.
The Italians then placed second by more
than ten seconds to the U.S. in their semifinal, becoming the slowest qualifier for the
final.
Moto Guzzi was never a factor in the
final.
“Secretly, cine film was made of this to
prove it, and the boats were definitely faster.
However, the Italian Rowing Committee
insisted that only one team could use the
Carcano rowing system. In the Melbourne
Olympics, the Carcano team got the Gold
Medal whilst the other team only got
Silver.’2553
In Australia, the European Champion
coxless-four rowing a standard rig,
Abbondio Marcelli, Giovanni Zucchi,
Attilio Cantoni and stroke-man Giuseppe
Moioli, now 29 years old, won their heat by
open water over Poland and Finland while
1 CAN
2 USA
3 FRA
4 ITA
7:08.8
7:18.4
7:20.9
7:22.5
It was the coxed-four who came to Lake
Wendouree rowing what soon became
known as the “Carcano tandem” or Italian
2553
Bill Lomas, Bill Lomas World Champion
Road Racer, Redline Books, Gateshead, UK,
2004, p. 7
2554
751
See Chapter xxx.
Official Report XVI Olympiad
1956 Men’s Coxed-Four Final
1 ITA 7:19.4, 2 SWE 7:22.4, 3 FIN 7:30.9, 4 AUS 7:31.1
rig. The bow-man was a young Moto Guzzi
employee, Romano Sgheiz from Colico, a
town 40 km north of the factory in Mandello
del Lario.
La Reppublica, 2004: “Now Romano
Sgheiz gives homemade honey to a visitor at
his home overlooking Lake Como, the
waters of his deeds. The physique is still
impressive, a vague resemblance to John
Charles.2555 A natural Hercules who at 18
began to row and at 19 won the Olympics.
“‘I had seven brothers. My mother was
widowed from ‘45, and at 16 I began
working as a laborer at Moto Guzzi in
Mandello. I washed the engines of the
racing department.
“‘Passing between departments I noticed
Alippi, the rowing coach. Seeing I was big
and strong, he asked me to go with him to
the shed on the lake.
2555
“‘Moto Guzzi had already built a
legend, not only with motorbikes but also
with boats. In London in ‘48, an all-Moto
Guzzi crew had won the Gold in the coxlessfour.
“‘I started rowing, and my life was this:
5AM train from Colico to Mandello,
training for two hours, then work from 8:30
till 17:00, then another two hours of
workout. Then train back, dinner, sleep.’
“The next year was already time for the
Olympic Games, and Moto Guzzi had plenty
of workers, and therefore also plenty of
rowers. In addition to the historic coxlessfour, they also decided to boat a coxed-four.
Ivo Stefanoni coxswain (who back then sat
at the back of the boat), rowing stroke-man
Franco Trincavelli, 3 Alberto Winkler, 2
Angelo Vanzin, and bow-man Romano
Sgheiz.
“A very young crew. Trincavelli was 21
years old, Sgheiz 19, the others 24, and they
a Welsh footballer during the 1950s.
752
needed to develop. They
finished third at the European
Championships in Bled. The
Olympics were in Melbourne
in November, so there was
time to improve.
“Trincavelli and Sgheiz
weighed 90 kg, Winkler and
Vanzin in the middle weighed
75, but they could not push
the boat like the first two.
“Stefanoni could not
reach by six to eight kilos the
minimum weight of 50 kg
required by regulation. His
teammates worked harder,
but he was determined to pay
them back with better tactics.
But the arrangement of the
oars was the trademark of this
boat. Rather than have the
oars alternating, Trincavelli
had a port oar.
Then
followed the two starboards,
and then Sgheiz rowing port.
“But what happened?
“Sgheiz:
‘Engineer
Carcano, the brilliant inventor
of so many motorcycles, had
filmed the movement of the
Official Report XVI Olympiad
boat. He noticed that with
Romano Sgheiz receives his medal from
alternating oars, the boat had
IOC President Avery Brundage.
an imperceptible zigzag,
while
with
the
new
disposition, the movement
and grasses. For this reason, there were only
was straight, kind of like a leaping dolphin.
four lanes.’2556
As a result, many have imitated us, but no
one ever knew whether the ‘Carcano
“The races started, and the coxed-four
tandem’ was actually advantageous.’
easily won their heat and semifinal,
“The Olympics were on Lake
eliminating Russia [Silver Medal in Bled].
Wendouree, a couple of hours from
The finals were against the two European
Melbourne.
The crew had gained
opponents, [European Champion] Finland
confidence. The boat ran smoothly.
and Sweden, and Australia. During warm“Sgheiz: ‘We felt in shape. The race
ups prior to the start, there was moment of
course was carved from a basin full of reeds
suspense. Vanzin cracked an oar like it was
2556
753
See photo, p. xxx
caught in a vise. With the race only a few
minutes away, the four rushed hundreds of
meters through the reeds to get to the
support dock and back, rowing like mad to
return by five minutes before the start, as the
regulations required.
“The race had no suspense. Moto
Guzzi, or Italy, took the lead and left
Sweden behind. Each time the Swedish boat
made contact, Stefanoni accelerated the
rating, and Italian boat took off.
“Sgheiz: ‘We were in Lane 3. We
started at 38-40 strokes per minute for the
first 250 meters, then slowed to 32. We
would return to around 40 for the finish.’
“They won by 3.0 seconds over Sweden
and 11.5 on the Finnish European
Champions.
“Moto Guzzi added another title to its
epic: in addition to Olympic titles, they won
five Europeans in the coxless-four between
‘49 and ‘56, two Europeans in the eight in
‘57 and ‘58. These were times when rowing
belonged to the workers.
The return from the Olympics took an
eternity. The federation asked if they
wanted to go home by ship or by air, and the
five chose the ship. The Neptune sailed
from Melbourne in late December only to
arrive in Naples thirty-one days later, after
rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Suez
crisis having led to the closure of the Canal.
“In Colico, they hoped for a little
convertible for a great triumph. The
federation rewarded them with 300,000 lira
[$500]. Moto Guzzi gave them a motorbike.
“Sgheiz: ‘But it was not mine! The first
one that woke up at home took it.’”2557
2557
Corrado Sannucci, I remi magici della Moto
Guzzi a Melbourne l’oro degli operai, La
Repubblica, May 7, 2004, p. 56
754

73. Early Rowing in Italy

Transcription

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