 Pearce was unemployed during the Great Depression, only entering the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, through the charity of friends.He won the single sculls at the Empire Games and attracted the attention of whisky magnate Lord Dewar, who offered Pearce a job in Hamilton as a salesman.This made Pearce eligible to compete in the Diamond Sculls at the Henley regatta and he entered again in 1931.