# 1956 European Rowing Championships

The 1956 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on Lake Bled in the city of Bled which, at the time, was located in Yugoslavia. Men competed in all seven Olympic boat classes (M1x, M2x, M2-, M2+, M4-, M4+, M8+), and women entered in five boat classes (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+). Many of the men competed two months later at the Olympic Games in Melbourne; women would first be allowed to compete at Olympic level in 1976.

## Background

FISA, the International Rowing Federation, decided at its congress held just prior to the 1955 Championships in Ghent to award the 1956 Championships to Bled, and that the 1957 Championships were to be hosted by Duisburg.

## Medal summary – women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Event | Country & rowers | Time | Country & rowers | Time | Country & rowers | Time |
| W1x | West Germany Ingrid Scholz | | Austria Eva Sika | | Hungary Kornélia Pap | |
| W2x | Czechoslovakia Svetla Bartakova Hana Musilova | | Soviet Union Nina Opalenko Ekaterina Semlyanskaya | | Hungary Hertha Manger Gisela Pünner | |
| W4+ | Soviet Union Olimpiada Mikhaylova Galina Putyrskaya Lyudmila Blasko Natalya Morozova Vera Savrimovich (cox) | | Poland Maria Dopierala Maria Golebiewska Sabina Zdzienicka Maria Kowalska Danuta Migocka (cox) | | Romania Felicia Urziceanu Elsa Oxenfeld Stela Georgescu Lucia Dumitrescu Angela Codreanu (cox) | |
| W4x+ | Soviet Union Yevgeniya Tserbakova Lidiya Zontova Galina Kopilova Lyubov Trosenkova Viktoriya Dobrodeeva (cox) | | Hungary Istvánné Granek Ida Orodán Józsefné Raskó Jánosné Kőszegi Ilona Skotniczky (cox) | | Romania Florica Bruteanu Viorica Udrescu Stela Stanciu Maria Laub Stefania Borisov (cox) | |
| W8+ | Soviet Union Lyudmila Matveyeva Vera Taranda Alexandra Afonykina Vera Mikhaylova Nina Korobkova Zinaida Korotova Zinaida Trofimova Tamara Stolyarova Maria Fomicheva (cox) | | Romania Felicia Urziceanu Marta Kardos Iuliana Toganel Rita Schob Sonia Bulugioiu Elsa Oxenfeld Etelca Laub Maria Bucur-Maimon Angela Codreanu (cox) | | East Germany Ingrid Matthes Marianne Falk Gerda Weith Ursula Nawrot Ingeborg Könnecke Hella Schulz Anita Blankenfeld Helga Richter Ursula Gesch (cox) | |

## Medal summary – men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Event | Country & rowers | Time | Country & rowers | Time | Country & rowers | Time |
| M1x | Soviet Union Vyacheslav Ivanov | | West Germany Klaus von Fersen | | Poland Teodor Kocerka | |
| M2x | Soviet Union Aleksandr Berkutov Yuriy Tyukalov | | West Germany Thomas Schneider Kurt Hipper | | Czechoslovakia Albert Krajmer František Reich | |
| M2- | Soviet Union Igor Buldakov Viktor Ivanov | | Austria Alfred Sageder Josef Kloimstein | | Belgium Michel Knuysen Bob Baetens | |
| M2+ | West Germany Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck Horst Arndt Rainer Borkowsky (cox) | | Switzerland Gottfried Kottmann Rolf Streuli Peter Rüede (cox) | | Austria Alfred Sageder Josef Kloimstein Franz König (cox) | |
| M4- | Italy Giuseppe Moioli Attilio Cantoni Giovanni Zucchi Abbondio Marcelli | | Hungary Géza Ütő Csaba Kovács Rezső Riheczky Zoltán Kávay | | West Germany Willi Montag Horst Stobbe Gunther Kaschlun Manfred Fitze | |
| M4+ | Finland Reino Poutanen Kauko Hänninen Veli Lehtelä Toimi Pitkänen Matti Niemi (cox) | | Soviet Union Yury Popov Andrej Archipov Valentin Zanin Yaroslav Cherstvy Anatoly Fetissov (cox) | | Italy Franco Trincavelli Angelo Vanzin Romano Sgheiz Alberto Winkler Ivo Stefanoni (cox) | |
| M8+ | Czechoslovakia Josef Věntus Eduard Antoch Ctibor Reiskup Jan Švéda Josef Švec Zdeněk Žára Jan Jindra Stanislav Lusk Miroslav Koranda (cox) | | France René Massiasse Maurice Houdayer Jean-Jacques Vignon Édouard Leguery Maurice Bas Richard Duc Émile Clerc Santé Marcuzzi Jacques Vilcoq (cox) | | Hungary Ferenc Demeter Gabor Dobay Tibor Bedekovits Imre Kaffka Laszlo Kerenyi Imre Kemény Pál Bakos Sandor Emödi Gyula Lengyel (cox) | |