This was the first appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's coxed pair was one of the original four events in 1900, but was not held in 1904, 1908, or 1912. It returned to the programme after World War I and was held every Games from 1924 to 1992, when it (along with the men's coxed four) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.[2]
Competition format
The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The tournament featured two rounds: semifinals and a final. There were two semifinals, each with 3 or 4 boats; the top two in each advanced to the final. The final was a four-boat race.[2]
The distance for each race was 1750 metres, rather than the 2000 metres which was becoming standard even at the time (and has been used in the Olympics since 1912, except in 1948).[3]
Schedule
Date
Time
Round
Saturday, 25 August 1900
14:45
Semifinals
Sunday, 26 August 1900
15:30
Final
Results
Semifinals
The top two boats in each semifinal advanced to the final.
In the semifinals, the Dutch team had been coxed by Hermanus Brockmann, who weighed 60kg. They saw that the French teams made use of young light-weighted boys of about 25kg, and decided to switch coxswains to reduce weight, recruiting a young Parisian boy for the job. In the final, the Dutch team took the lead from the start. In the end, the French team came very close, but the Dutch team won a tight race with the French boat sent by the Marne society.[4]
↑ Brockmann was the coxswain for the Dutch team in the semifinal, but not in the final, in which an unknown French boy participated as the coxswain.[4] Brockmann is considered a gold medallist by the IOC and is listed in that organization's medal database.[5]
1 2 Heijmans, Jeroen (24 June 2007). "Nederlands goud (1)"[Dutch gold (1)]. Sportgeschiedenis.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
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