Halperin, Robert "Buck"

Robert Sherman Halperin

Sport:
sailing

Country Represented:
United States

Years Competed:
1960

Medals Received:
bronze

Olympic Info:
At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Halperin was a member of Shrew II, the United States' International Star Class yacht (skippered by Bill Parks). Halperin and Parks, both of whom were from Chicago, did not begin the competition well and finished in ninth place in Race 1, and seventh place in Race 2. After placing fourth in Race 3, they finished in the top three of the remaining races, winning the seventh, and last, race. Halperin and Parks won the bronze medal by finishing in third place with 6,269 points (the Soviet Union won the competition with 7,619 points).

Halperin, nicknamed"'Buck," graduated from the University of Wisconsin and won the Navy Cross for heroism and distinguished service in the North African, Sicily, and Normandy invasions; he also won the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Presidential citation. In 1958, Halperin's Commercial Light Company (a family-owned business based in Chicago), installed lights at the Washington Park Race Track, making Washington Park the first fully lighted one-mile track in the country.

Career Highlights:
A tough competitor who crewed for the Chicago Yacht Club and the Southern Lake Michigan Fleet, Halperin won the North American Star championship in 1959. He also won the gold medal in the Star Class at the 1963 Pan American Games.

At the World Championships, it is now a tradition that the skipper with the best total score after three races has his name engraved on the Vanderveer Trophy; the crew member's name is engraved on the Buck Halperin Trophy.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Jan. 26, 1908 - d. May 1985

Origin:
Chicago, Illinois

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