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The emergence of a kayaking legend, “crooked canoes” and a race for women – canoeing emerged in London in 1948 ready to build on its Olympic reputation.
After the horrors and carnage of the second world war, the Olympic Games in London provided an opportunity to celebrate a return to peace, and for the world’s best athletes, including more than 100 enthusiastic canoeists, to take on the best on the planet.
Germany and Japan were not invited to London as punishment for their very ordinary behavior over the previous decade, leaving 110 athletes from 16 countries to take part in canoe sprint’s second official Olympic Games.
After the men-only competition in 1936, the International Canoeing Federation made an official application for women’s competition to be included in London. The International Olympic Committee discussed it at a meeting in 1947, and it was agreed that an event for women could be added, provided there was no increase in the number of canoeing events already fixed.
The ICF decided to omit the proposed men's K-1 relay and included a K-1 women's event over 500m, with Denmark’s Karen Hoff forever etching her name in the record books as canoeing’s first female Olympic gold medalist.
The Scandinavians, led by Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson, dominated the 1948 Games. The Swedes won all four kayak gold medals on offer, and the minor placings were mostly filled by their Nordic neighbours.
Likewise the Czechs dominated the canoe events, winning most of the golds on offer.
1948 was the start of an incredible Olympic career for Fredriksson. He competed in four Games in total, won six gold medals, including the K1 1000 and the K1 10,000 in London, and is considered to be the most successful male canoeist ever.
His margin of victory in the 10,000 metres that year – 30.5 seconds – is the greatest in the history of the event at an Olympic level. He also won gold medals at the next three Olympics, making him the only Swede to win gold at four Olympic Games, and the most successful Olympic athlete his country has ever produced.
By all accounts, he was still good enough, at age 48, to make the 1968 Olympic squad, but chose to coach the Swedish team instead.
HENLEY-ON-THAMES
The venue chosen for the canoeing event in 1948 was the same as that of the rowing. While there were several practical and economical good reasons to choose the Henley-on-Thames venue, it did present a problem for the staging of the 10,000 metre races, as the course was quite short.
Eventually a circuitous route was decided upon, but unfortunately the river at Henley was also too narrow to allow mass starts if there were more than six contestants.
This meant some of the races had to be staged against the clock, which caused a lot of angst among several of the competitors. Sixteen nations had submitted entries for the kayak events, and this large number made it impossible to carry out a collective start. Since the ICF Rules forbade heats for the long races, the kayaks had to be sent off at intervals of 30 seconds.
The Scandinavians, led by Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson, dominated the 1948 Games. The Swedes won all four kayak gold medals on offer, and the minor placings were mostly filled by their Nordic neighbours.
This decision, although inevitable, was not popular, since it was impossible for a competitor to judge his position relative to the others, and he was forced to race to the clock, an extremely difficult technique. For similar reasons the method was unpopular with spectators, who, if they wish to follow progress, must make regular checks of time and order.
On the plus side, Henley provided a great opportunity to showcase canoeing, at just its second Olympic Games, to a big audience. Henley was the home of British rowing, and a large crowd was almost guaranteed.
The canoeing regatta occupied two days and on each there were races for both the kayaks and the canoes. Most of the teams arrived in time for the opening ceremony and afterwards settled down to serious practice over the course. They were immediately made to feel welcome by the people of Henley and the surrounding villages.
During the competitions, commentaries were received from some half-dozen stations along the course, and this enabled the longer races to be followed throughout.
THE RACES
The 10,000 m events were all held on the first day. The course comprised four legs, two downstream and two upstream. The starting line and the finishing line were the same and the start was made downstream to Temple Island round which a left hand turn was made, the turning arc being marked by buoys.
It then continued upstream past the enclosures, through the bridge and round Rod Eyot before returning over the same course back to Temple Island. Then came the final straight of 2,000m to the normal finishing line.
Such a course provided the competitors with plenty of variety and the races could be watched not only from the enclosures, but also from the bridge, the tow path, and the roads skirting the bank above and below the bridge.
When the 10,000 m events were held in Berlin in 1936, they were along a straight course and each spectator saw but one short part of each race. Unfortunately rain kept many of the spectators away on the opening day of competition in London, bit those who did turn out enjoyed excellent viewing conditions.
The Scandinavian competitors were making good progress, with the first four placing in the pairs going to the region, with Sweden taking the gold through Akerlund and Wetterstrom.
In the singles, Swedish champion Gert Fredriksson, who had not competed in the pairs, took part. In the lead-up to the 1948 Olympics he had gained an enviable reputation in kayak racing circles in Europe. His superb technique, confidence and physique were most impressive, and he won his race by a comfortable margin.
There was drama at the end of the race, when Finland’s Wires collapsing after crossing the line. He was gallantly assisted by Denmark’s Ditlevsen until help arrived. It was found afterwards that Wires had gained second place, and again the first four places went to Scandinavia, with Skabo (Norway) third, and Ditlevsen fourth.
As only a half-dozen countries had entered for the Canadian canoe events, it was possible to have normal mass starts, and this enabled spectators to see both the start and finish of two first-class races.
In the pairs, the American crew, Lysak and Macknowski, soon took the lead, and although Havel and Pecka of Czechoslovakia fought hard, and came in second, they never seriously challenged the leaders, who won by nearly two minutes.
But what had looked like a relatively straightforward result was soon thrown into turmoil, when a report was received from the turning point control on Rod Eyot that the leading canoe had fouled one of the buoys marking the turn.
But common sense prevailed, with the umpire deciding against disqualification, presumably taking account of the fact that the buoy was struck by a paddle during recovery and not by the canoe, and that the incident had in no way affected the outcome of the race.
CROOKED CANOES
The C1, the last event of the day, proved a test of endurance. It was the first time that this competition had been included in an international programme and some had considered it to be too long and severe.
And the event was shrouded in controversy!
When a canoe is paddled by one man, the drive of his paddle on one side has the effect of turning the bow away from the paddling side, and it is the skill involved in correcting this turning tendency, with the minimum loss of forward motion, that constitutes one of the most important factors in C1 technique.
In London, certain teams used what came to be known as "crooked" canoes, from the lateral curve put into all or part of the keel. The effect of this curve was to give the canoe a tendency to turn in one direction, and by curving the keel in the appropriate direction, it could be made to neutralise the turning tendency caused by the paddling.
Under these conditions, the canoe will run straight without the need for expenditure of effort in steering, by the paddler. Naturally, this gave a man in a "crooked" canoe an advantage over an opponent who must steer as well as drive, and protests were registered with the ICF some days before the competition.
It might seem the protestors had a strong case, given there was little doubt athletes in the “crooked” canoes had a distinct advantage. But despite painstakingly poring over the rules, the ICF had no choice but to reject the protests because construction did not violate the existing building rule, since a curved keel is not a rudder in the accepted sense of the word.
But the ICF had learned its lesson. All parties agreed that such a development was undesirable, and the rule was amended to forbid their use in future competitions.
It might seem the protestors had a strong case, given there was little doubt athletes in the “crooked” canoes had a distinct advantage. But despite painstakingly poring over the rules, the ICF had no choice but to reject the protests
The race was won by Capek of Czechoslovakia in a “crooked canoe”. The removal of the need for much steering had enabled him to develop a stroke of maximum power.
The second day's programme was composed of the heats and finals of the short-distance events, 500 m and 1,000 m. The large entry for kayaks made it necessary to hold eliminating races in the morning.
THE DEBUT OF WOMEN
Coming into London, women in America and Britain had very little exposure to serious racing. In Denmark and a number of other countries, though, the sport was very popular. It was from some of these countries, led by Denmark, that there came a strong call for the inclusion of at least one event for women.
The Organising Committee and the International Olympic Committee agreed to this in substitution for the originally scheduled men's relay race. The admission of this one race proved fully justified, for ten nations sent entries and a very high standard was achieved.
Again the men’s Canadian canoe entries were limited to the half-dozen nations who used this craft, and it was not necessary to arrange morning heats. In the singles, Holecek of Czechoslovakia took first place, leading from Bennett of Canada by some ten seconds.
The luck of the draw for K2 placed three of the Scandinavian countries into one heat, but they all succeeded in reaching the final, in which Berglund and Klingstrom of Sweden won from Hansen and Jensen of Denmark by a split second. The first five kayaks crossed the line within three seconds.
Toldi and Andrasi of Hungary were well placed, but were unfortunate in being disqualified for the technical fault of "hanging" in the wash of another kayak. This was forbidden by ICF rules, but over a short distance under conditions which permit only a minimum space between craft, it is possible to give the appearance of "hanging" when innocent of any such intent.
The K1 gave Fredriksson his second triumph, and he again demonstrated his amazing reserve of power and self assurance. In his heat in the morning he had allowed himself to lie fourth until within about 50 metres of the line when he increased his stroke and took first place, a split second ahead of Akerfelt of Finland.
In the final, he repeated this by travelling with several others until near the finish and then spurting to cross about six seconds ahead of Andersen of Denmark, the winner of the second heat.
Eberhardt of France, who gained third place, was a veteran of the 1936 Olympiad in which he won a silver medal in singles.
The C2 was a hard-fought race in which the Czechoslovak crew, Brzak and Kudrna, beat the Americans by three-quarters of a length.
Sweden set the seal on its reputation for kayak racing by winning all four events for men. Similarly, the Czech team, with three gold medals in Canadian canoes, demonstrated that in Europe they were pre-eminent with the single blade.
1948 Olympics - London
Participants: 110 (100 men and 10 women) from 16 countries
Youngest Participant: Klara Fried-Banfalvi – Hungary - (17 years, 96 days)
Oldest Participant: Ernie Riedel – USA - (47 years, 30 days)
Most Medals (Athlete): 7 athletes with 2 medals
Most Medals (Country): 3 countries with 4 medals
10,000 m – KAYAK SINGLES
Previous Olympic Winner:
1936 E.KREBS Germany 46:01.6
There were 27 entries from 16 nations and 13 participants from 13 nations
1 Sweden FREDRIKSSON, G. 50:47.7
2 Finland WIRES, K. 51:18.2
3 Norway SKABO, E. 51:35.4
4 Denmark Ditlevsen, K. 51:54.2
5 France Eberhardt, H. 52:09.0
6 Holland Bobeldijk, J. 52:13.2
7 Poland Sobieraj, C. 52:15.2
8 Belgium Cobiaux, A. 53:23.5
9 Czechoslovakia Matocha, J. 53:51.0
10 Austria Klepp, H. 55:11.7
11 Switzerland Bottlang, E. 55:33.7
12 USA Riedal, E. 56:34.5
13 Luxembourg Lentz, M. 59:58.2
10,000 m – KAYAK PAIRS
Previous Olympic Winners:
1936 P.WEVERS and L.LANDEN Germany 41:45.0
There were 47 entries from 15 nations and 30 participants from 15 nations
1 SWEDEN Akerlund, G. and Wetterstrom, H. 46:09.4
2 NORWAY Mathiesen, I. and Ostby, K. 46:44.8
3 FINLAND Axelsson, T. and Bjorklof, N. 46:48.2
4 Denmark Christensen, A. and Rasmussen, F. 47:17.5
5 Hungary Andrasi, G. and Uranyi, J. 47:33.1
6 Netherlands Koch, C. and Stroo, H. 47:35.6
7 Czechoslovakia Klima, L. and Lomecky, K. 48:14.9
8 Belgium Deprez, H. and Massy, J. 48:23.1
9 Austria Piemann, W. and Umgeher, A. 48:24.5
10 Poland Jezewski, A. and Matloka, M. 48:25.6
11 Switzerland Frey, F. and Zimmerman, W. 48:33.2
12 France Fleche, R. and Graffen, M. 50:10.1
13 USA Clark, R. and Eiseman, J. 50:26.6
14 Canada Covey, G. and Harper, H. 53:04.2
15 Luxembourg Fonck, R. and Nickels, J. 53:04.6
10,000 m – CANADIAN SINGLES
This event was included in the Olympic programme for the first time
There were 9 entries from 6 nations and 5 participants from 5 nations
1 Czechoslovakia CAPEK, F. 62:05.2
2 USA HAVENS, F. 62:40.4
3 Canada LANE, N. D. 64:35.3
4 France Argentin, R. 66:44.2
5 Sweden Andersson, I. 67:27.1
10,000 m – CANADIAN PAIRS
Previous Olympic Winners:
1936 V.MOTTL and Z.SKRDLANT Czechoslovakia 50:33.5
There were 18 entries from 7 nations and 12 participants from 6 nations
1 USA Lysak, S. and Macknowski, S. 55:55.4
2 CZECHOSLOVAKIA Havel, V. and Pecka, J. 57:38.5
3 FRANCE Dransart, G. and Gandil, G. 58:00.8
4 Austria Molnar, K. and Salmhofer, V. 58:59.3
5 Canada Oldershaw, B. and Stevenson, W. 59:48.4
Sweden Johansson, G. and Wettersten, V. 63:34.4
1,000 m – KAYAK SINGLES
Previous Olympic Winner:
1936 G.H.HRADETZKY Austria 4:22.9
There were 27 entries from 16 nations and 15 participants from 15 nations
1 Sweden FREDRIKSSON, G. 4:33.2
2 Denmark ANDERSEN, J. 4:39.9
3 France EBERHARDT, H. 4:41.4
4 Norway Gulbrandsen, H. 4:41.7
5 Holland Van der Kroft, W. 4:43.5
6 Finland Akerfelt, H. 4:44.2
7 Czechoslovakia Vambera, L. 4:44.3
8 Austria Piemann, W. 4:50.3
1,000 m – KAYAK PAIRS
Previous Olympic Winners:
1936 A.KAINZ and A.DORFNER Austria 4:03.8
There were 52 entries from 16 nations and 32 participants from 16 nations
1 SWEDEN Berglund, H. and Klingstrom, L. 4 7.3
2 DENMARK Hansen, E. W. and Jensen, J. B. 4 7.5
3 FINLAND Axelsson, T. and Bjorklof, N. 4 8.7
4 Norway Mathiesen, I. and Ostby, K. 4 9.1
5 Czechoslovakia Kroutil, O. and Pech, M. 4 9.8
6 Netherlands Gravesteyn, C. and Pool, W. 4 15.8
7 Canada Covey, G. and Harper, H. 4 56.8
Hungary Toldi, J. and Andrasi, G. disqualified
1,000 m – CANADIAN SINGLES
Previous Olympic Winner:
1936 F.AMYOT Canada 5:32.1
There were 11 entries from 7 nations and 6 participants from 6 nations
1 Czechoslovakia HOLECEK, J. 5:42.0
2 Canada BENNETT, D. 5:53.3
3 France BOUTIGNY, R. 5:55.9
4 Sweden Andersson, I. 6:08.0
5 USA Havens, W. 6:14.3
6 Great Britain Maidment, H. 6:37.0
1,000 m – CANADIAN PAIRS
Previous Olympic Winners:
1936 R.V.SYROVATKA and F.J.BRZAK
There were 21 entries from 8 nations
1 CZECHOSLOVAKIA Brzak, J. and Kudrna, B.
2 USA Lysak, S. and Macknowski, S.
3 FRANCE Dransart, G. and Gandil, G.
4 Canada Bennett, D. and Poulton, H.
5 Austria Salmhofer, V. and Molnar, K.
6 Sweden Johansson, G. and Wettersten, V.
7 Great Britain Symons, J. and Van Zwanenberg, H.
Belgium Coomans, H. and Dubois, J.
500 m – KAYAK SINGLES (Women)
This event was included in the Olympic programme for the first time
There were 13 entries from 10 nations
1 Denmark HOFF, K.
2 Netherlands VAN DE ANKERDOEDANS, A.G.
3 Austria SCHWINGL, F.
4 Hungary Banfalvi, K.
5 Czechoslovakia Kostalova, R
6 Finland Saimo, S
7 Belgium Van Marcke, A
8 France Vautrin, C
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