V 13 N. 65 John Uelses R.I.P. First 16' Vaulter

John Uelses  1936-2022

July 17, 2023

This is a belated notice of the passing of John Uelses.  We only just heard this news.  Ed.   

John Uelses passed away recently December 15, 2022, aged 85,  a victim of Alzheimer's disease.  He will be long remembered as the first person to clear 16 feet in the pole vault using any kind of pole,  bamboo, steel, aluminum, or fiberglass.  His weapon of choice was fiberglass and much of the public in 1962 was not yet accustomed to the rise of technology in the sport including vaulting poles, javelins,  shoes, track surfaces, landing pits, and electronic timing not to mention PED's.   It was a time when it was not unusual to hear the crack of a fiberglass pole breaking and shattering during a meet.  Jumpers were learning that you had to be very careful not to let the pole get scratched and form break points.  The edges were sharp, but I don't recall anyone getting impaled on the broken edges.  There would occasionally be a photo of a pole breaking while the jumper was in mid jump.   Some of the older vaulters complained that the pole gave too much of an edge to the ones who had mastered the use of fiberglass.  One  readers Bill Flint former Stanford vaulter, now deceased, sent me a tee shirt that said, "When Men and Poles Were Made of Steel". 

This from an unamed source:    Bill Flint gave me one of the t shirts you mention but I never wore it.   When Bob Gutowski set the WR at Stanford in the Oxy vs Stanford dual meet, Bill was there and said that Bob used one of the Stanford poles for the record.  Bill had that pole and kept it over the years.   He offered it to the USOC museum here in Colo Springs but no one wanted it.   He suggested they use it in the upright position and have a cross bar at the WR height put on display there but no one seemed to be interested or care about it.   I suspect his wife Susan still has it in the garage although Bill said he might just cut it up into relay baton size !!

It admittedly took less strength and some gymnastic ability, but it took no less courage.   An article below argues that the old bamboo poles offered as much  assistance as fiberglass.  But no one jumped much more than 15 feet on bamboo.  It's possible that aluminum and steel tubing were more of a setback to the sport.  But the metal poles had longer life expectancy and obviously were more economical thus securing a place in the sport for that reason.    I question a bit the argument that bamboo was as good.   It took a little over twenty years for the World Record of Cornelius Warmerdam the first to clear 15 feet on bamboo until Uelses went 16 feet.   For the record to go another foot to 17 feet by John Pennel only took a year and four months.   I can only surmise that there was indeed something in the technology and it was just a question of finding the guys who could learn new techniques and master them.  The Sports Illustrated article below discusses some of the things Uelses discovered including bending the pole away from the pit and rocking back more than others were doing.   He had speed (9.8  100yd) and ran hurdles, threw the javelin and played soccer as well for his first college, Alabama.  He won SEC championships in PV, Hurdles, and Jav. He won the NCAA meet in 1964 for LaSalle at 15' 11 1/2", but only placed 8th at that year's Olympic Trials with a jump of 15' 3".   He did not finish with the Tide, but went into the Marine Corps where he was when he set the record.  After the Marines he enrolled at LaSalle in Philadelphia and won that 1964 NCAA meet.   He then went back to the military became a pilot and instructor in the Navy.  All this from a boy born in Berlin, Germany in 1936 with the name Johan Hans (or possibly Hans Joachim) Fiegenbaum (fig tree).   His family became refugees after WWII and he was sent to America to live with a great aunt and uncle in Miami, FL.  He was an honor student and top athlete in his high school, Miami Senior High.  He took the name 'John Uelses' at that time.  After his university career and athletic career, John became a navy pilot and eventually an instructor at the US Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Program which thanks to Hollywood is better known as Top Gun.   No doubt his innate ability to know where he was while in mid-air assisted in his ability to fly those fighters.   

Trivia:  Can you name who another refugee of WWII who changed his name and became a noted track athlete?  His given name was Peter Buniak.

Sports Illustrated Article on Uelses and fiberglass controversy Feb 26, 1962  link   "He Could Do It on Bamboo"  by Tex Maule

The article link above discusses or tries to compare the utility of using fiberglass poles vs.  steel, aluminum, and bamboo and through a dubious three day test conducted at Johns Mannville's Materials Evaluation Section headed by Robert Neisel.  It concluded that bamboo was the best of the four materials.  However the tests were conducted using only a twenty pound weight propelled by the four materials.  It might have been more valid to have tested at the weight of the vaulter, say 160 to 210 pounds that fit the weight range of the top vaulters of the day.  And there was no peer review of the tests.  Also of interest in this article is the note that fiberglass poles had been around for more than ten years before Uelses set his record.  It claims that  Bob Mathias had used fiberglass in his decathlon wins at London and Helsinki in 1948 and 1952.  Admittedly the technology in the poles may have improved in that time up to 1962 when Uelses went over 16' the first time.  The technology kept improving and there would still be controversy years later when Bob Seagren was denied use of his pole at the 1972 Olympics as it was deemed not available to all the vaulters due to limited production and distribution.  

Below is World Record Progression from 15 feet to 17 feet  from Wikipedia.

4.54 m (14 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Earle Meadows	United States	Los Angeles, U.S.	May 29, 1937[1]	1
4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)	Cornelius Warmerdam	United States	Fresno, U.S.	June 29, 1940[1]	1
4.72 m (15 ft 5+3⁄4 in)	Cornelius Warmerdam	United States	Compton, U.S.	June 26, 1941[1]	2
4.77 m (15 ft 7+3⁄4 in)	Cornelius Warmerdam	United States	Modesto, U.S.	May 23, 1942[1]	3
4.78 m (15 ft 8 in)	Robert Gutowski	United States	Palo Alto, U.S.	April 27, 1957[1]	1
4.80 m (15 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	Don Bragg	United States	Palo Alto, U.S.	July 2, 1960[1]	1
4.83 m (15 ft 10 in)	George Davies	United States	Boulder, U.S.	May 20, 1961[1]	1
4.89 m (16 ft 1⁄2 in)	John Uelses	United States	Santa Barbara, U.S.	March 31, 1962[1]	1
4.93 m (16 ft 2 in)	Dave Tork	United States	Walnut, U.S.	April 28, 1962[1]	1
4.94 m (16 ft 2+1⁄4 in)	Pentti Nikula	Finland	Kauhava, Finland	June 22, 1962[1]	1
5.00 m (16 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Brian Sternberg	United States	Philadelphia, U.S.	April 27, 1963[1]	1
5.08 m (16 ft 8 in)	Brian Sternberg	United States	Compton, U.S.	June 7, 1963[1]	2
5.13 m (16 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	John Pennel	United States	London, England	August 5, 1963[1]	1
5.20 m (17 ft 1⁄2 in)	John Pennel	United States	Coral Gables, U.S.	August 24, 1963[1]	2

Hi George,

 

One of my several firsts in person was seeing John Uelses top 16 feet in the pole vault.  I was at Madison Square Garden for the Millrose Games with my Dad, and we met my uncle, who had come up to New York from DC, as he was moderator of the Georgetown track team in those days.  Two great events for us were seeing the first 16 footer and Dr. Jack Reilly run the anchor on Georgetown’s two mile relay.  The two mile relay was an exciting race for us, because even though Georgetown was about 50 yards behind when Jack took the baton, his coach said run as fast as you can for as long as you can.  Two teams were ahead of the Hoyas, Holy Cross and Manhattan, the leader.  During the last half mile, Holy Cross passed Manhattan and a bit later Georgetown did too and at the end Jack missed winning the race by less than a foot, having run the half mile on the MSG’s 11-lap to the mile in 1:47.9.  There used to be a youtube video of that race, and when I saw it I said to myself that is exactly how I remembered it.  Unfortunately, that video is gone (even Jack’s daughter emailed me to see if I could find the video). Jack during his life always was thinking of ways he could have won that race

 

After the meet was over my Dad, my uncle, and I were walking back to my uncle’s hotel, when we saw one of the pole vaulters walking down the street with his poles.  My uncle was sure that was John Uelses, but my Dad and I said we didn’t thing it was he.  But my uncle went over to him, congratulated him, and got his autograph.  We looked at the signature, and instead of John U., it was something like John Rose.

 

Two of my other firsts were Don Larsen’s perfect game at Yankee Stadium, and Edwin Moses at UCLA setting one of his many world reecords.

 

Don Betowski

The following obituary is from a site called  Legacy.

John Uelses Obituary

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John H. Uelses, who died December 15, 2022 after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease. John was 85 years old.

John was a talented and accomplished athlete, making history as the first man to vault over 16 feet. His record-breaking jump at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York made headlines around the world and landed him on cover of Sports Illustrated. He was a member of the United States Track Team, competing and winning medals in countries around the world.

John was born Hans Joachim Feigenbaum in Berlin, Germany. During his early years WWII forced the family to become refugees. At age 12 John was sent to the United States to live with a great aunt and uncle, and was later joined by his brother Fred. Speaking no English, the two had to study extra hard. They were later adopted and became United States citizens.

John was an honor student and excelled in athletics at Miami Senior High School and later received a scholarship to University of Alabama, where he set university records and won Southeastern Conference titles in pole vault, javelin, and hurdles.

During this time, he learned about a U.S. Marine track and field program that would let him compete in national and international events. He described himself at the time as "the only Marine who looked forward to Boot Camp." It was when he was a corporal stationed at Quantico that he achieved his world record-breaking pole vault, a record he himself broke by 1/2" at the Boston Indoor Games (indoor) and Santa Barbara Relays (outdoor).

John was one of the earliest vaulters to compete using a fiberglass pole, then regarded as a gimmick but which - thanks to John's athletic prowess, determination, and skill - quickly came into standard use.

While in the Marines, John was also a member of U.S. track team, traveling and competing all over the world including the Cold War matches with the USSR. He vaulted and won medals in Brussels, Russia, Poland, Finland, Japan, Germany and England. His first place win in 1963 in Moscow achieved despite an injury was particularly satisfying to him.

After his tour with the Marines, John received a scholarship to La Salle University where he vaulted and played soccer. He won the NCAA pole vault championship in 1964 with an American indoor record of 16' 4.5", as well as three ICAA championships, two MAC Championships, and became an NCAA All American.

John began his career as an officer in U.S. Naval Aviation. He was selected for the first F14 Tomcat Fighter Squadron VF 1 at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego, California. He was first a student, and then an instructor at U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, now known as Top Gun. His fighter squadrons served aboard USS Ranger and USS Enterprise. After years in the air and at sea it was time to stay on ground.

He was assigned to the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. After graduating and earning a Master's degree at Naval War College, he served with U.S. European NATO Command in Germany and at Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, DC.

John was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame, Florida Sports Hall of Fame, La Salle Hall of Fame, and Miami Senior High Hall of Fame.

After retirement he continued to share his passion for vaulting by coaching high school vaulters in the San Diego area. And he developed a new passion for golf and a goal of a hole in one, which he did of course achieve.

John is survived by his wife Mickey, their children Mark (Susie), Elyssa (Bruce), grandsons Max (Whittney), Jake (Taylor), great-granddaughter (Maisy), and brother Fred (Claudia). He will be deeply missed by his family and friends but his legacy will live on through his remarkable achievements.