[1] He achieved international recognition by providing the eight-oared racing shells which won gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics with a crew from the University of Washington, and again in 1948 and 1952.

[5][6] A champion sculler himself, Pocock (along with his brother, Dick) used prize money earned from racing to emigrate from England to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1911, in search of better employment prospects.

was shut down during World War I, and there were no boats to be built, the Pocock brothers hired on as pontoon builders for a fledgling Seattle aircraft manufacturer, Pacific Aero Products, which was the forerunner to Boeing.

[10][11] In 1922 as the use of wooden components in the manufacture of airplanes began to decline in favor of metal, George left Boeing to return to boatbuilding for Pocock Racing Shells on the campus of the University of Washington.

[16] Pocock's middle name was 'Yeomans',[17] as shown on his birth certificate, and despite its misspelling as 'Yeoman' in some popular literature, including The Boys in the Boat.