William Joseph "Bill" Knecht ( Eng. William Joseph "Bill" Knecht ; , - , ) is an American rower who played for the US national rowing team in the second half of the 1950s and first half of the 1960s. Champion of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo , three-time champion of the Pan American Games, winner of the European Championship silver medal, winner and prize-winner of regattas of national importance.
| William Knecht | |
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| personal information | |
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| Club | Vesper boat club |
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| Growth | 183 cm |
| Weight | 86 kg |
Biography
William Knecht was born March 10, 1930 in Camden , New Jersey .
He began to engage in rowing while studying at the University of Lascelles, later transferred to Villanova University , which he graduated in 1951. He was trained at the Vesper boat club in Philadelphia , and as part of it he repeatedly became the champion of the USA in various rowing disciplines.
The first serious success at the adult international level was achieved in the 1955 season, when he joined the main team of the American national team and attended the Pan American Games in Mexico City , from where he brought the gold dignity award won in the offset of the eighth steering eights.
In 1958, in the eights he became the silver medalist at the European Championships in Poznan, losing in the final to the crew from Italy.
In 1959, in the doubles he won the Pan American Games in Chicago .
Thanks to a series of successful performances, he was awarded the right to defend the country's honor at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome . Started in doubles with teammate Jack Kelly , but could not get into the number of winners, because of a suddenly developed disease, he left the fight for medals at an early stage of the competition [1] .
After the Roman Olympics, Knecht remained in the US rowing team for another Olympic cycle and continued to take part in major international regattas. So, in 1963, in the eights, he won the Pan American Games in São Paulo [2] .
Being among the leaders of the American national team, successfully passed the selection for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo . This time, as part of the G8 crew, he beat all his rivals in the final race, including the main favorites of the Germans, and won the Olympic gold medal.
Subsequently, he was engaged in a business related to the production of sheet metal . Later he became a shuttle of the United States Olympic Rowing Committee, participated in rowing competitions as a judge, in particular, he was a judge at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona . Founder of the Cooper River Rowing Association. Member of the American Rowing Hall of Fame. He had six children.
He died on December 17, 1992 in Cheltenham Township, PA , at the age of 62.
Every year, Villanova University holds rowing competitions for the prizes of William Knecht - Knecht Cup Regatta [3] [4] .
Notes
- ↑ William A Stowe. All Together . - iUniverse, 2005. - ISBN 978-0-595-34388-1 .
- ↑ Steven Olderr. The Pan American Games / Los Juegos Panamericanos: A Statistical History, 1951–1999, bilingual edition / Una Historia Estadística, 1951–1999, edición bilingüe . - McFarland, September 14, 2009. - P. 166, 173. - ISBN 978-1-4766-0468-8 .
- ↑ Kevin Rossi (April 9, 2015) Crew's Meghan Knecht, the Knecht Cup and Learning Her Family's Past . drexeldragons.com
- ↑ Mike Jensen (October 23, 2014) Vesper rower recalls Olympic glory of '64 . philly.com
Links
- Bill Knecht - Olympic stats on Sports-Reference.com
- William Knecht - profile on FISA website
- William Knecht (English) - page on the website of the International Olympic Committee