William Rowe (athlete)

William John Alfred "Bill" Rowe (May 27, 1913 – April 20, 1938) was an American hammer thrower. He was United States champion in 1936 and placed fifth in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Athletic career

Rowe studied at Rhode Island State College, where Fred Tootell, former Olympic hammer throw champion, served as track and field coach. Rhode Island alumni led America in the hammer and weight throws in the mid-1930s; apart from Rowe, Tootell's star pupils included Henry Dreyer and Irving Folwartshny.[1] At 5 ft 11 in (183 cm) and 175 lbs (79 kg),[2] Rowe was small for a heavy thrower;[3] his teammate, "Shorty" Folwartshny, was 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) tall and weighed 225 lbs (102 kg) as a sophomore.[2][4] Rowe missed much of the 1935 season due to an injury,[4] but his best mark that year, 173 ft 10 in (52.98 m),[2] still placed him third among Americans behind Dreyer and Chester Cruikshank.[5]

In the 1936 IC4A championships Rowe only placed third behind Folwartshny and Anton Kishon, throwing 162 ft  7⁄8 in (49.39 m);[6] in addition, he placed fourth in his second event, the discus throw.[6] At that year's national championships Rowe turned the tables and won the hammer title with a best mark of 175 ft 7 in (53.51 m), defeating both Folwartshny and defending champion Dreyer by more than eight feet.[7][8] At the Olympic Trials, which were held separately later that summer, Rowe threw 171 ft  9 1⁄2 in (52.36 m) and lost to Dreyer by two inches; he qualified for the Olympic team, together with Dreyer and Don Favor.[9] In Berlin Rowe qualified for the Olympic final and placed fifth with a throw of 51.66 m (169 ft  5 47⁄64 in); he was the best of the Americans.[10]

Rowe never won the IC4A hammer title, which in 1937 again went to Folwartshny; however, he did win that year's IC4A discus title with a throw of 148 ft  7 1⁄2 in (45.28 m).[11][12][13]

Death

Rowe died in New York Post-Graduate Hospital on April 20, 1938, having been hospitalized since the previous week "suffering from mysterious growths under both armpits".[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Hammer Thrower". Oakland Tribune. July 16, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Olympic Hammer Competition Keen". The Bates Student. May 26, 1936. p. 2. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  4. 1 2 Johns, Walter (March 6, 1936). "Olympic Roll Call" (PDF). The Herald Statesman. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ "USA Top 10 Lists - 1935". Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Cornell Alumni News" (PDF). Cornell University. June 4, 1936. p. 513. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Gene Venzke Third in 1500 Meter Race at Princeton". Reading Eagle. July 5, 1936. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  8. ↑ Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian; Track & Field News. "A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2014". Track & Field News. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field; Track & Field News. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Owens Wins". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. August 3, 1936. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Woodruff and Johnson Shine in I.C.4-A. Trials". Harrisburg Evening News. May 29, 1937. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  12. ↑ "IC4A Championships (1876-1942)". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Saturday's Sport Summaries". The Cornell Daily Sun. May 31, 1937. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Champ Dead". Lowell Sun. April 20, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2014.

External links

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