# Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless pair

The men's coxless pair competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course, Mexico.

## Competition format

This rowing competition consisted of three main rounds (heats, semifinals, and finals), as well as a repechage round that allowed teams that did not win their heats to advance to the semifinals. All races were 2,000 metres in distance.
* Heats: Three heats. With 18 boats entered, there were six boats per heat. The top two boats in each heat (total of 6 boats) advanced directly to the semifinals; all other boats (12 boats) went to the repechage.
* Repechage: Two heats. There were 6 boats in each heat. The top three boats in each heat (total of 6 boats) advanced to the semifinals. The remaining boats (6 boats) were eliminated.
* Semifinals: Two heats. Each heat consisted of 6 boats. The top three boats in each heat advanced to the final; the other three boats in each heat were sent to a 7th–12th place classification race.
* Finals: A main final and a 7th–12th place classification race.

## Results
### Heats
#### Heat 1

The first heat featured 4 of the 6 eventual finalists, including the gold and bronze medalists.
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Roel LuynenburgRuud Stokvis | Netherlands | 7:14.50 | Q |
| 2 | Peter ChristiansenIb Larsen | Denmark | 7:23.51 | Q |
| 3 | Heinz-Jürgen BotheJörg Lucke | East Germany | 7:30.08 | R |
| 4 | Fred RüssliWerner Zwimpfer | Switzerland | 7:36.91 | R |
| 5 | Ennio FermoMarino Specia | Italy | 7:42.81 | R |
| 6 | Günther KarlFranz Held | West Germany | 7:45.49 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dieter EbnerDieter Losert | Austria | 7:31.29 | Q |
| 2 | Roger ChatelainJean-Pierre Drivet | France | 7:34.42 | Q |
| 3 | Alfons ŚlusarskiJerzy Broniec | Poland | 7:45.51 | R |
| 4 | Roberto FriedrichFernando Scheffler | Mexico | 7:48.28 | R |
| 5 | Eralio CabreraNorge Marrero | Cuba | 7:51.94 | R |
| 6 | Lyle GatleyJohn Ulinder | Canada | 7:55.10 | R |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry HoughPhilip Johnson | United States | 7:19.92 | Q |
| 2 | David Ramage Paul Guest | Australia | 7:24.66 | Q |
| 3 | András PályiLászló Romvári | Hungary | 7:33.31 | R |
| 4 | Apolinaras GrigasVladimir Rikkanen | Soviet Union | 7:35.61 | R |
| 5 | Kauko HänninenPekka Sylvander | Finland | 7:37.34 | R |
| 6 | Esteban MasseilotJosé Sigot | Uruguay | 7:42.35 | R |

### Repechage
#### Repechage heat 1

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Heinz-Jürgen BotheJörg Lucke | East Germany | 7:21.92 | Q |
| 2 | Ennio FermoMarino Specia | Italy | 7:23.77 | Q |
| 3 | András PályiLászló Romvári | Hungary | 7:26.39 | Q |
| 4 | Lyle GatleyJohn Ulinder | Canada | 7:33.46 | |
| 5 | Kauko HänninenPekka Sylvander | Finland | 7:40.50 | |
| 6 | Roberto FriedrichFernando Scheffler | Mexico | 7:43.38 | |

#### Repechage heat 2

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Fred RüssliWerner Zwimpfer | Switzerland | 7:26.33 | Q |
| 2 | Günther KarlFranz Held | West Germany | 7:31.91 | Q |
| 3 | Alfons ŚlusarskiJerzy Broniec | Poland | 7:35.81 | Q |
| 4 | Esteban MasseilotJosé Sigot | Uruguay | 7:37.95 | |
| 5 | Eralio CabreraNorge Marrero | Cuba | 7:50.88 | |
| – | Apolinaras GrigasVladimir Rikkanen | Soviet Union | DNF | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Roel LuynenburgRuud Stokvis | Netherlands | 7:15.51 | Q |
| 2 | Dieter EbnerDieter Losert | Austria | 7:15.53 | Q |
| 3 | Fred RüssliWerner Zwimpfer | Switzerland | 7:16.09 | Q |
| 4 | David Ramage Paul Guest | Australia | 7:17.09 | C |
| 5 | Ennio FermoMarino Specia | Italy | 7:29.75 | C |
| 6 | Alfons ŚlusarskiJerzy Broniec | Poland | 7:40.10 | C |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry HoughPhilip Johnson | United States | 7:21.50 | Q |
| 2 | Peter ChristiansenIb Larsen | Denmark | 7:24.98 | Q |
| 3 | Heinz-Jürgen BotheJörg Lucke | East Germany | 7:32.16 | Q |
| 4 | Roger ChatelainJean-Pierre Drivet | France | 7:43.79 | C |
| 5 | András PályiLászló Romvári | Hungary | 7:45.73 | C |
| 6 | Günther KarlFranz Held | West Germany | 7:53.06 | C |

### Finals
#### Classification 7–12

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time |
| 7 | David Ramage Paul Guest | Australia | 7:19.49 |
| 8 | Alfons ŚlusarskiJerzy Broniec | Poland | 7:22.89 |
| 9 | András PályiLászló Romvári | Hungary | 7:26.00 |
| 10 | Ennio FermoMarino Specia | Italy | 7:32.50 |
| 11 | Roger ChatelainJean-Pierre Drivet | France | 7:37.64 |
| 12 | Günther KarlFranz Held | West Germany | 7:40.88 |

#### Final

| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time |
| | Heinz-Jürgen BotheJörg Lucke | East Germany | 7:26.56 |
| | Larry HoughPhilip Johnson | United States | 7:26.71 |
| | Peter ChristiansenIb Larsen | Denmark | 7:31.84 |
| 4 | Dieter EbnerDieter Losert | Austria | 7:41.80 |
| 5 | Fred RüssliWerner Zwimpfer | Switzerland | 7:46.79 |
| 6 | Roel LuynenburgRuud Stokvis | Netherlands | ST |