He won the gold medal in this event at the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles.

[2] Anderson graduated from Cornell University in 1929, where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society.

He later improved to beat the world record holder, Paul Jessup, at the 1932 Final Trials.

Later, experience gained in the Pacific during World War II as a lieutenant commander in the naval reserve led to his obtaining a post as chief navigator of a salmon fishing fleet.

While on an expedition some 700 miles north of Anchorage, he suffered a brain hemorrhage and died immediately, aged only 41.