Before he competed in the men’s eights at the 1924 Summer Olympics, Warren Snyder made his mark as a basketball, baseball, and rugby football player. In a precursor to the Canadian Football League, he helped the University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Argonauts to win the 8th Grey Cup in 1920. At the Olympics, his squad, which consisted of Arthur Bell, Ivor Campbell, Robert Hunter, William Langford, Harold Little, John Smith, Norman Taylor, and William Wallace, lost their heat to the United States, but earned the right to compete in the final by winning the repêchage. There they were again defeated by the United States, but captured the silver medal ahead of the Italians and the Britons.
Snyder was a member of Phi Delta Theta and earned a Bachelor’s of Science and medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1924 and 1927 respectively. He then moved to the Mimico neighborhood of Toronto, where he worked as a doctor and served as the suburb’s coroner until 1938, when he was suspended after being charged with manslaughter for striking and killing a cyclist with his car while allegedly drunk. He was acquitted of the charges several months after a mistrial in February 1939 and resumed practicing, although he was dismissed from his position as coroner. He served as medical officer for the city until his 1957 retirement, which came shortly prior to his death. He was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
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