William Joseph KNECHT

Short and stocky at 6-0 (1.83) and 200 lbs. (91 kg.), Bill Knecht started rowing at LaSalle High School and later went to Villanova. He first joined the Vesper BC in 1946 and won many national titles with them. In addition to his Olympic gold medal in 1964, he stroked the Vesper eight to a gold medal at the 1955 Pan American Games and won two more PanAm golds – in the 1959 and 1963 double sculls (with the non-Olympian Robert Lea). His partner in 1959 was John Kelly, Jr., with whom he won several national double scull championships and also competed in the 1960 Olympics.