Born in Berkeley, California, Scott Gault (1983– ) attended Piedmont High School, where he played football, basketball and golf. He began rowing as part of the Oakland Strokes program, which led him to the University of Washington, where he spent four years in one of the nation’s premier rowing programs, while earning a degree in industrial engineering. He helped the Huskies’ varsity eight win the PAC–10 Championship in 2004.
Gault joined The Olympic Club in 2002, searching for access to fitness, golf and basketball facilities, while continuing his rowing career. After college, he joined the U.S. National team and helped bring home a gold medal in the men’s quadruple sculls at the 2008 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Americans overtook the defending world champions from Poland in the final 250 meters. Just two months later, the Polish team got their revenge by winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where Gault and the U.S. crew finished fifth.
Gault remained focused on training and eventually switched events, from the quadruple sculls to the men’s coxless four. At the 2011 World Championships, with a fourth-place finish, the team qualified a boat for the 2012 Olympics in London. Gault was named to the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
In London, though Gault and his teammates had never competed together internationally, they finished first in their qualifying heats. During the final, the team pushed themselves as hard as they could, ultimately taking home the bronze medal behind the British and Australian boats, missing gold by just 3.5 seconds. “We all know how to race,” Gault said afterward. “We laid down a powerful rhythm and pounded down the course, and now we can go home with smiles on our faces. Before the end we had nothing left, and in the last 250m we put everything on the water.”
Gault now spends his time on his other passions; he played in the Club’s basketball leagues for over a decade and is a pilot, cyclist and skier. He is raising his family in Marin and currently a Senior Vice President at Newfront Insurance selling aviation insurance.
