About Betty Cook
Lived 1923 – 1990 (aged 66–67). Betty Cook was an American athlete.
Betty Cook (1923-1990) was an Honors Graduate from MIT and a world champion offshore powerboat racer and was inducted in to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996.
Cook grew up as Betty Young in Glens Falls, New York, earned a degree in political science from Boston University and then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she met her future husband, Paul Cook. They moved to California, where they became involved in powerboat racing.
Cook won 17 races, two world championships (1977 and 1979), and was a three-time American Power Boat Association US champion (1978, 1979, 1981). She was the first woman to win the powerboat world championship (1977) in what had been traditionally a male-only sport.
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Important facts
People in Betty Cook's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
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Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Betty Cook's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Betty Cook?
American motorboat racer
When was Betty Cook born?
Betty Cook was born in 1923.
When did Betty Cook die?
Betty Cook died in 1990.
What was Betty Cook's occupation?
Betty Cook was an athlete.
What nationality was Betty Cook?
Betty Cook was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Betty Cook. https://biography.guide/betty-cook/
MLA: "Betty Cook." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/betty-cook/.
Chicago: "Betty Cook." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/betty-cook/.
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