Walter D'Hondt

Walter Ignace D'Hondt (born September 11, 1936 in Richmond , now part of Greater London ) is a former Canadian rower .

D'Hondt started out as a hammer thrower but switched to rowing when he was 18. The graduate of the English John Fisher School rowed in the eighth of the University of British Columbia along with Archibald MacKinnon , Lorne Loomer and Donald Arnold . The four rowers surprisingly qualified in the four without a helmsman for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In the final of the Olympic Regatta, the four Canadians won by over ten seconds over the boat from the United States.

At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958 , the Canadians won the title with the Canadian eight, Arnold and D'Hondt also competed in the four with helmsman and won the silver medal in this boat class. At the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 , the four Olympic champions from 1956 competed with the Canadian eighth. In the final, the Germany eight won ahead of the Canadians and the boat from Czechoslovakia.

The 1.93 m tall Walter D'Hondt worked as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle after his sporting career .

Web links

• Walter D'Hondt in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )