The 1968 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Grünau Regatta Course in the

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

suburb of Grünau. This edition of the

European Rowing Championships The European Rowing Championships is an international Rowing regatta organised by FISA (the International Rowing Federation) for European rowing nations, plus Israel which, though not a member of the European federation is treated as a European ...

was for women only and was held from 16 to 18 August. Twelve or fifteen countries (sources vary) contested five boat classes (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+), and 39 teams competed. Despite the European label of the event, it was open to any country and was regarded as unofficial world championships, but all contesting countries in 1968 were from Europe. The men would meet in

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in mid-October at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Background

The

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

(FISA) had trouble finding a willing host for the 1968 Championships. The matter had been discussed at the FISA congress held in conjunction with the 1967 European Rowing Championships in

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. At that same meeting, East Germany had its membership status elevated from associate to ordinary. Delighted with the new status, the president of the East German rowing association, , volunteered to check whether his country could host the championships, and the eventual answer was positive. The chosen venue was the Grünau Regatta Course, which had previously been used for the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

, and later for the

1962 European Rowing Championships The 1962 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Langer See in the East Berlin suburb of Grünau in East Germany; the venue had previously been used for the 1936 Summer Olympics. This edition of the European Rowing Cha ...

. Grünau was confirmed by FISA in early March 1968. In early June, the

Deutsche Post of the GDR The Deutsche Post (''DP''), also Deutsche Post of the GDR (''German: Deutsche Post der DDR'') was the state-owned postal and telecommunications monopoly of the German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany). The DP was placed under the control o ...

issued three stamps depicting notable sporting events in East Germany that year. One of the designs by graphic designer shows a single sculling woman with reference to the upcoming European Championships. The 15 countries reported to compete (another source mentions 12 countries only, but does not list them) were the Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, England, Austria, Denmark, France, West Germany, and the host country East Germany. Of those, only the Soviet Union, Romania, and East Germany had boats in all five classes.

Medal summary – women's events

The regatta started with an opening event on the evening of 15 August. The heats were rowed the next day. Any semi-finals were held on 17 August, and the finals were held on Sunday, 18 August. Gisela Jäger and Rita Schmidt surprisingly won gold in the double sculls after just four weeks of training together. The long-standing double sculling partners

Monika Sommer Monika Sommer is a retired East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution o ...

and Ursula Pankraths were to represent East Germany, but Sommer fell ill and new sculling teams were formed, of which Jäger and Schmidt were chosen for the European Championships. In the eight event, only five boats were listed, hence the final was the first competition for these boats. East Germany surprisingly won over the favourite team from Romania. Initially, the Soviet Union was awarded second place, but was disqualified later due to having caused two false starts. Czechoslovakia came fourth.

References

{{European Rowing Championships European Rowing Championships

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

Sports competitions in East Berlin 1960s in Berlin