Bobby Pearce

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Olympic medal record
Men’s Rowing
Gold	1928 Amsterdam	Single sculls
Gold	1932 Los Angeles	Single sculls

Henry Robert Pearce (born September 30, 1905 in Sydney, Australia, died May 20, 1976 in Canada), popularly known as Bobby Pearce was an Australian sculler of the 1920s and 1930s who won gold in the single sculls at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and then the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was also a winner of the Diamond Sculls.

Pearce was born into a family with sporting pedigree, with his great-grandfather having emigrated from England in 1850 and settling in Double Bay, in Sydney's inner east district, where he worked as fisherman and ran a boatshed. Pearce's grandfather Harry Pearce Sr. was an Australian champion in sculling. Harry Pearce had five daughters and one son. One of the daughters was a New South Wales swimming champion. His son Sandy, Bobby Pearce's uncle was a member of the Australian Rugby league team and Sandy's son Cecil was also a sculler, repesenting Australia at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Harry Pearce Jr., the father of Bobby Pearce, was an Australian sculling champion and world championship finalist in 1911 and 1913. Bobby Pearce entered a U-16 handicap race at the age of six, managing to finish second. Pearce left school early to become a carpenter, and then worked in the fish industry with his father. He joined the Australian Army in 1923, rising to the rank of master-sergeant. He left in 1926, after winning the Army heavyweight boxing championship to become a full-time rower.

Standing at 180cm and 90.7kg, Pearce entered the amateur national sculling championships in 1927, which he won and retained in 1928 and 1929. This gained him selection for the Olympics in 1928, where he was the only rower selected, and also carried the Australian flag at the opening ceremony. In the single sculls, he defeated his first opponent, Walter Flinsch of Germany by 90 seconds, and then defeated the Danish rower Schwartz by 8 lengths. In the quarter final, Pearce stopped mid-race when a family of ducks strayed into his lane, conceding a five length lead to his French opponent Saurin. However, he managed to fight back and proceed to the semifinal and final, winning both by four lengths. He defeated David Collett of Great Britain by three lengths in the semifinal before becoming the first Australian to win gold in the single sculls, defeating Kenneth Myers of the United States in the final. He set a new Olympic record, some 25 seconds faster than the previous mark. This also earned him the Philadelphia Cup, which represented the amateur champion of the world.

The following year, Pearce attempted to enter the Diamond Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta, but was barred as he was a carpenter by trade. This was disllowed as the rules did not permit artisans to compete against the gentry. Pearce was unemployed during the Great Depression, only entering the 1930 British Empire Games through the charity of friends. He won the single sculls and attracted the attention of whisky magnate Lord Dewar, who offered him a job in North America as a salesman. This made him eligible to compete in the Henley regatta, and he subsequently won the Diamond Sculls in 1931 by six lengths. Pearce retained his Olympic title in 1932, this time winning by only half a length, before turning professional the following year, making himself ineligible for further Olympic competition. He won the 1933 World Championship in Toronto and won again in 1934 in London. He retired undefeated at the start of the Second World War and joined the Canadian Armed Forces, being made a lieutenant in charge of training new soldiers. He also did public relations work for the Canadian Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander by his retirement in 1956. He then resumed his work as a liquor salesman, and in 1972 became a Canadian citizen. He died of a heart attack in 1976, at the age of 70.