Sailing — Men
The tradition of Ivy League sailors in the Olympics stretches more than eight decades. Nearly three dozen Ivy athletes have competed in sailing and yachting competitions since 1948. The League has claimed 26 medals including 15 golds.
The League won six golds and a bronze at the 1948 London Games. The Smart family claimed two of those golds in the star class. Father Paul Smart and son Hilary Smart of Harvard are the only father-son combination to win gold for the United States while competing together. With an Ivy influenced crew, captain Herman Whiton (Princeton) took gold in the 6-meter yachting competition with his boat ‘Llanoria’. Lee Loomis, James Smith, Jr., and Jim Weekes were all crew from Harvard on Whiton’s gold medal run.
Whiton and ‘Llanoria’ were back in 1952 at Helsinki with a new crew but the same result. Loomis, Smith, and Weeks had been replaced by Harvard’s Eric and Julie Roosevelt but the captain and crew won their second consecutive gold in the 6-meter. Roosevelt, who returned to the Olympics in 1956, became the treasure of the USOC in 1965 and in 1975 was elected to the International Olympic Committee.
Besides Whiton, another Ivy League captain had a taste of gold in the 1948 Games. Penn’s Britton Chance skippered ‘Complex II’ with an all-Harvard crew to the gold in the 5.5 meter. Twins Sumner and Ed White served as Chance’s crew in Helsinki.
Harvard’s George O’Day continued in the long line of successful Ivy League captains. In the 1960 Rome Games, O’Day’s vessel ‘Minotaur’ easily took Olympic gold. O’Day is considered one of the greatest American sailors and through his career he claimed 12 world championships in various classes.
The League has also had success in recent Games. In Sydney Jonathan McKee (Yale) took bronze in the high performance dinghy open.
| Name (School) | Country | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Luis Aguilar (Yale ’57) | Mexico | 1964 |
| Tor Arneberg (Dartmouth ’50) • | Norway | 1952 |
| Peter Barrett (Cornell ’57) • • | United States | 1960-64-68 |
| Thomas Barrows (Yale ’10) | U.S. Virgin Islands | 2008 |
| Joe Batchelder (Dartmouth ’60) • | United States | 1964 |
| Stephen Benjamin (Yale ’78) • | United States | 1984 |
| Britton Chance (Penn ’35) • | United States | 1952 |
| Gardner Cox (Princeton ’41) | United States | 1968 |
| Glen Foster, II (Brown ’52) • | United States | 1972 |
| Norman Freeman (Cornell ’53) | United States | 1976 |
| Kevin Hall (Brown ’91) | United States | 2004 |
| Lee Loomis (Harvard ’50) • | United States | 1948 |
| John K. Marshall (Harvard ’63) • | United States | 1968-72 |
| David McFaull (Cornell ’77) • | United States | 1976 |
| Jonathan McKee (Yale ’83) • • | United States | 1984-00 |
| John McNamara, Jr. (Harvard ’56) • | United States | 1964 |
| Stu McNay (Yale ’05) | United States | 2008-12 |
| George O’Day (Harvard ’45) • | United States | 1956-60 |
| Eric Ridder (Harvard ’40) • | United States | 1952 |
| Julie Roosevelt (Harvard ’50) • | United States | 1948-52-56 |
| Michael Schoettle (Yale ’58) • | United States | 1952 |
| Frank Scully (Harvard ’64) • | United States | 1964 |
| Victor Sheronas (Penn ’31) | United States | 1956 |
| Hilary Smart (Harvard ’47) • | United States | 1948 |
| Paul Smart (Harvard ’14) • | United States | 1948-52 |
| James Smith, Jr. (Harvard ’48) • | United States | 1948 |
| Robert Stinson, Jr. (Princeton ’55) | United States | 1956 |
| Erik Storck (Dartmouth ’07) | United States | 2012 |
| Owen Torrey, Jr. (Harvard ’47) • | United States | 1948 |
| Carl Van Duyne (Princeton ’68) | United States | 1968 |
| Jim Weekes (Harvard ’47) • | United States | 1948 |
| Ed White (Harvard ’52) • | United States | 1952 |
| Sumner White, III (Harvard ’52) • | United States | 1952 |
| Herman Whiton (Princeton ’26) • • | United States | 1928-48-52 |
• Gold Medal (also indicated by bold name)
• Silver Medal
• Bronze Medal
