Walter Hoover was a competitive rower and rowing coach from Duluth who became world famous by winning the Diamond Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1922. The annual event, held in England, was the world championship for single scullers (rowers who propel their boats alone) at the time.
Walter Hoover was born in Duluth, Minnesota, to Harriet and George Hoover. His father died when he was very young and he was raised by his mother, who was an educator and became a principal in the Duluth School District.
Hoover joined the Duluth Boat Club as a swimmer, but switched to rowing in 1913, at the age of eighteen. In his first year of rowing he was a member of the junior eight that finished first at the Northwestern International Rowing Association (NWIRA) regatta in St. Paul. The same crew went on to win the intermediate eight at the US National Championships in Boston and they beat their own senior eight from Duluth in the Senior Eight finals.
In 1914, Hoover took up sculling and won the junior and senior singles events at the NWIRA regatta in Kenora Ontario. In 1914, he also rowed in the winning senior 8 at the national championships in Philadelphia.
Hoover again won the senior single at the 1915 NWIRA in Winnipeg, along with the single quarter-mile dash. He went on to win the quarter-mile dash at the National Championship Regatta in Springfield, Massachusetts.
In 1916, Hoover was a private in the Third Minnesota Infantry National Guard, which was called up to pursue the Mexican revolutionary leader Poncho Villa on the Mexican border. The military was also part of Hoover’s life in 1917, when he was drafted into the army and served as a second lieutenant in the Thirty-third Artillery.
In 1920, Hoover did not compete in rowing competitions. Instead, he worked as a civil engineer and designed a racing shell (boat) that would he would later use to win the world championship.
At the 1921 National Championships in Buffalo, Hoover won the intermediate single, the senior single, and the quarter-mile dash, which caught the attention of the rowing world.
In 1922, Hoover easily won the Philadelphia Gold Challenge Cup (the single sculls championship trophy) by over two lengths of open water and setting a course record by 11 seconds. He sailed the next day to England to compete for the Diamond Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta. Hoover easily won his two heats, including a victory over A. Baynes, the undefeated Australian sculling champion.
In the finals, Hoover beat the famous English sculler Jack Beresford by the huge margin of 29 4/5 seconds and immediately became world famous. When he returned to New York he received an enormous welcome both at the docks and at City Hall. When Hoover finally got back to Duluth, the celebration in his honor was the largest party in the city’s history (it remains so in 2019).
During 1926, Hoover rowed and was head coach at the Undine Barge Club in Philadelphia, where his rowers won forty-three races. He personally won the championship single and single dash at the US National Championship Regatta in Philadelphia and the championship single, the double, and the single dash at the Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catherines, Ontario. After 1928, Hoover retired as a competitive rower.
Hoover later moved to Detroit, where he coached rowers from the Detroit Boat Club. In 1956, his Detroit oarsmen won the straight four and double events at the US Olympic trials. Hoover was then made the US Olympic rowing team’s small boats coach. The five teams that he coached won one bronze medal, two silver medals, and two gold medals at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
After Detroit, Hoover retired from coaching until 1978, when he led the Minneapolis Rowing Club. In 1979, he was the women’s crew coach at Kansas State University. 1982 saw Hoover working on the design of new rowing shells. He died in 1984, at the age of eighty-nine.
Associated Press. “Hoover’s Sculling Style All His Own.” New York TimesAugust 6, 1922.
Cochran, Michael J. In Invincible: History of the Duluth Boat Club, 78‒89. Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company Publishers, 2008.
“Diamond Sculls Go to Walter Hoover.” New York Times, July 9, 1922.
“Duluth Plans Gift to Hoover, Winner of Diamond Sculls.” New York Times, July 16, 1922.
Hoover, Walter Sr. Unpublished manuscript. Personal collection of Michael J. Cochran.
Kelley, Robert. American Rowing, Its Background and Traditions. New York and London: G. P. Putnam and Sons, 1932.
Immediately after winning the Philadelphia Gold Challenge Cup world championship, Hoover ships off to England for the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames.
Walter Hoover is born in Duluth, Minnesota.
Hoover begins rowing for the Duluth Boat Club, at age eighteen.
Hoover wins his first national championship in the intermediate eight in Boston, Massachusetts.
Hoover wins the single quarter-mile dash national championship in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Hoover wins the single quarter-mile dash, the intermediate single, and senior single championships in Buffalo, New York.
Hoover wins the Philadelphia Gold Challenge Cup world championship.
Hoover wins the Diamond Sculls in the Henley Royal Regatta, Henley-on-Thames, England.
Hoover becomes the head coach of the Undine Barge Club in Philadelphia, where he will lead the team to forty-three club victories and world championships.
Hoover competes on the US Olympic Rowing Team as an alternate in the Single Sculls.
Hoover serves as the US Olympic Rowing Team’s small boats coach. His team takes gold medals in the pair and pair-with-coxswain competitions, silver medals in the double and four races, and a bronze medal in the single competition.
Hoover designs a radical new rowing shell with sliding riggers instead of sliding seat
Hoover dies at the age of eighty-nine in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.