Walter Hoover

Walter Hoover rowed double sculls at the 1952 Olympics with Pat Costello. He and Costello won the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (NAAO) doubles title in 1952, qualifying them for the Olympics. Hoover later won the NAAO ¼-mile single sculls title in 1957. He also won a gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games double sculls, with Jim Gardiner.

Hoover attended Princeton and Syracuse University and was later an assistant Olympic coach. After college he served in the US Army for two years. He held various engineering jobs, starting Gessner Industries in 1954. In 1985 he became President and CEO of New Direction Industries, and they purchased 80% of Winser & Jerauld textiles in Providence, RI, and Hoover ran the combined corporation until 2011. Hoover’s father, Walter Hoover, Sr., won the 1922 Diamond Challenge Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta and was considered the world rowing champion that year.