Article posted by and copyright to Dunstan Bertschinger and published, with permission, by the Rowing Service.
After some excellent racing in the 1st round and repechages; Cambridge, Fu-Jen (Taiwan), Hamburg, Harvard, Leiden (Netherlands), Melbourne, New Zealand Universities and Sydney progressed to the semi-finals. Keio (Japan), NTOU (Taiwan), Oxford, Toronto, Waseda (Japan) and Yale raced in semis for the C and D finals.
In the first semi final Sydney and Hamburg qualified comfortably. In the other semi Cambridge came from behind with 500m remaining beating Fu-Jen (the local favourites) to qualify 2nd behind Melbourne.
After managing torrential rain on Saturday, the athletes had to contend with strong sun, humidity and 35C temperatures for the finals on Sunday. The banks were packed with enthusiastic local spectators in a country where rowing is a relatively new sport.
The A final turned into a titanic struggle between the lightweights of Melbourne and the international heavyweights from Hamburg. Hamburg survived a last minute charge by Melbourne to win by less than 1 second. Both Hamburg and Melbourne broke the course record. Cambridge finished 4th , the only crew to make the A final with no internationals on board. Oxford finished 3rd in the C final (11th overall).
A Final1. Hamburg 5:53.772. Melbourne 5:54.753. Sydney 6:03.844. Cambridge 6:15.09B Final1. Allied Varsity of New Zealand 6:14.352. Harvard 6:15.173. Fu-Jen 6:18.594. Leiden 6:34.41C Final1. Toronto 6:24.382. Keio 6:28.413. Oxford 6:33.014. Waseda 6:38.09D Final1. Yale 6:45.872. NTOU 7:09.38
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Dunstan Bertschinger, Rod Chisholm