Walter’s Hot Dog Eating Champion is Rye High ’12 Grad
He is the top dog.
Will Croughan, a Rye High School 2012 graduate who grew up on Florence Avenue and Eldredge Court, is the 2024 Walter’s Hot Dog Eating Champion. Now 30 years old and living in Manhattan, Croughan clinched the win on Sunday by eating 12 complete hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. Croughan tied the eating record of twelve dogs down. He made it halfway through the 13th dog, but he left the the bun at the buzzer. Walter’s only counts full dogs in its record keeping. Croughan beat 19 other competitors. Walter’s Hot Dogs of Mamaroneck used the competition to celebrate its 105th year in business.
Croughan, who played football at Wesleyan University, had only dabbled once before at an eating competition years prior while at a minor league baseball game. “I knew the record was 12, so I thought to myself that I’d be able to tie it or beat it. I honestly wouldn’t have been shocked if I had ended up doing more than that. It sounded like I could. I thought I could have done more than than the 12 and a half. I definitely wanted to be in double digits. And I definitely wanted to win. And again, with the record being 12, I thought I could win.”
Meat Sweats and 2025
The big question for Croughan is if he defends his championship title in 2025, and more immediately how he felt after downing 12 1/2 dogs in ten minutes on Sunday.
“Right now, after having eaten the 13 hot dogs yesterday, I’m not itching for a hot dog again, but I can see myself being talked into doing it again next year,” he said on Monday. On how he felt after the win Sunday: “[I] kept everything down. I would say the first 30 minutes was a grind. Definitely I had the meat sweats, and was very full the first 30 minutes to an hour. But then I felt okay yesterday. I just skipped dinner.”
Photos and video of Rye’s own top dog:
