Seymour Legrand "Sy" Cromwell II (February 17, 1934 – May 2, 1977) was an American rower. He won a silver medal in the double sculls event at the 1964 Summer Olympics and at the

1966 World Rowing Championships The 1966 World Rowing Championships was the second time that world championships in rowing were held. The regatta was held from 8 to 11 September at Lake Bled in Bled, Slovenia, Yugoslavia. There were 613 rowers from 32 countries who competed i ...

Private life

Cromwell was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1934. His paternal grandfather, and namesake, was

Seymour L. Cromwell Seymour LeGrand Cromwell (April 24, 1871 – September 16, 1925) was an American banker who served as president of the New York Stock Exchange. Early life Cromwell was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 24, 1871. He was the eldest son of Esthe ...

, a former

president of the New York Stock Exchange This is a list of presidents of the New York Stock Exchange. References {{reflist, 30em External linksPresidents and Chairmen of the New York Stock Exchange(PDF) New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Bi ...

. After graduating from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

in 1956, he studied at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He then briefly worked as a naval architect, but then changed to teaching.

Rowing

During his rowing career, Cromwell won seven national titles in the single sculls and several more in double sculls. He won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land border ...

at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

in 1964, rowing for the Nonpareil Rowing Club of New York. He competed at the

1961 European Rowing Championships The 1961 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Vltava (Moldau) in the Czechoslovakian capital Prague. The event for women was held from 18 to 20 August, and 9 countries competed with 32 boats. The event for men was he ...

in single sculls and won bronze. Although he was selected only for the 1964 Olympics, he continued to be a top US rower up to 1970s, finishing third at the 1976 Olympic trials. In 1963, he won a gold medal at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

in single sculls.

Death and family

He died of pancreatic cancer on May 2, 1977 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

. He is survived by his wife, Gail Pierson Cromwell, originally of Natchitoches, Louisiana, and his daughter, Abigail W. S. Cromwell, of Cambridge, MA, who was born after he died.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cromwell, Seymour 1934 births 1977 deaths Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in rowing American male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in rowing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Rowers at the 1963 Pan American Games European Rowing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts