William John Alfred Rowe (May 27, 1913 – April 20, 1938) was an American

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

er. He was United States champion in 1936 and placed fifth in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Athletic career

Rowe studied at

Rhode Island State College The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

, where Fred Tootell, former Olympic hammer throw champion, served as track and field coach. Rhode Island alumni led America in the hammer and

weight throw Two sports have events that fall under the name of weight throw one being the track and field event and the other being the Scottish highland games events. The track and field event is most popular in the United States as an indoor equivalent t ...

s in the mid-1930s; apart from Rowe, Tootell's star pupils included

Henry Dreyer Henry Francis Dreyer (February 2, 1911 – May 27, 1986) was an American athlete. He competed in the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics as a hammer thrower; his other strong event was the non-Olympic weight throw, in which he broke the world best severa ...

and

Irving Folwartshny Irving Henry "Shorty" Folsworth (born Folwartshny; March 16, 1914 – July 27, 1994) was an American hammer thrower and weight thrower. He was a seven-time United States champion and briefly held the indoor world record in men's weight throw. Bio ...

. At 5 ft 11 in (183 cm) and 175 lbs (79 kg), Rowe was small for a heavy thrower; his teammate, "Shorty" Folwartshny, was 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) tall and weighed 225 lbs (102 kg) as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

. Rowe missed much of the 1935 season due to an injury, but his best mark that year, 173 ft 10 in (52.98 m), still placed him third among Americans behind Dreyer and

Chester Cruikshank Chester "Chet" Cruikshank (May 25, 1913 – November 1970) was an American track and field athlete. Cruikshank was USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, national champion in men's hammer throw in 1939 and 1942 and national junior champion in 1 ...

. In the 1936

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

championships Rowe only placed third behind Folwartshny and Anton Kishon, throwing 162 ft in (49.39 m); in addition, he placed fourth in his second event, the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

. At that year's

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

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. At the Olympic Trials, which were held separately later that summer, Rowe threw 171 ft in (52.36 m) and lost to Dreyer by two inches; he qualified for the Olympic team, together with Dreyer and

Don Favor Donald Emerson Favor (February 16, 1913 – November 13, 1984) was an American hammer thrower. He was national champion in 1934 and placed sixth at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Career Representing the University of Maine, Favor won the hammer throw ...

. In Berlin Rowe qualified for the Olympic final and placed fifth with a throw of 51.66 m (169 ft in); he was the best of the Americans. 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 in (45.28 m).

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".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, William 1913 births 1938 deaths American male hammer throwers American male discus throwers University of Rhode Island alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Male weight throwers