Walter Glasgow began competitive sailing at the age of 13 and he was a 19-year-old college freshman when he won his Olympic medal. The U.S. representatives in the Soling class in Kingston (Ontario) were all from Houston. Glasgow joined Richard Hoepfner as a crew member, supporting helmsman John Kolius. Glasgow earned a civil engineering degree from Vanderbilt and a masters degree from Rice. He joined the oil industry, working for Mosbacher Energy in Houston from 1981-1999, and was later a Vice-President and General Manager at Mosbacher India (1999-2004), and then a Vice-President in charge of Drilling & Production with Wagner Oil.