A Vaulting Life

by Jim Hickson

Early 20th century pole vaulting

    “I love the pole vault because it’s a professor’s sport…it’s a very
     complicated event, there are many things involved.”
           Sergei Bubka (first person to vault 20 feet)

You read the title right.  This is a reminisce about pole vaulting, which is exceedingly rare, particularly for a blog.

I grew up in an era and area where vaulting became a pretty big deal.  My older brother Dave was a main part of it.

My family was sports oriented, which was not uncommon in Southern California, since the weather was perfect for outdoor activities.  My maternal grandfather, who played football at Iowa State in about 1905, always carried a stopwatch to track and field meets.  My father, who was 6’ 3”, ran the high hurdles at Pomona High.  My mother said she was the fastest kid in her grammar school.  As Dave and I grew up our father took us to weekend meets around the Pomona Valley.

When Dave was in the 7th grade (I was 3 years younger) he and his friends created a pole vault pit in our large backyard.  They built a runway, rustled up some standards and a crossbar, built a “box” ( very important) out of wood in which to plant the pole and found a way to deliver loads of sawdust for the pit.  I don’t know how they got ahold of aluminum poles but they soon appeared.  I watched them as months turned into years and they practiced over and over and vaulted higher and higher. Eventually they neared and surpassed 11 feet which seemed astounding as the runway was probably only 50 feet long.  When they rested I got to try and eventually cleared 7 or 8 feet.  Not bad for a 5th-6th grader. Neighborhood kids showed up too, learning to pole vault in our back yard.  One of whom was Bobby Seagren, who eventually won two Olympic Gold medals and broke the world pole vault record three times, reaching 17’8+” in 1968.  He was two years older than me. 

By the time we moved out of that house with the backyard pit, Dave and his friends had started high school and could vault in much better facilities.  Eventually our high school, Ganesha, had the first three 14 foot high school vaulters in the U.S.

Track and Field News, the Bible for track aficionados, published a long article about the three vaulters.  Since the world record was only 22 inches higher it does seem pretty amazing looking back. It would be like having three 18 foot vaulters in a high school today.  Needless to say Dave and his friends would sweep the event in every track meet, and Ganesha was involved in many big So-Cal meets.  There were some amazing young athletes competing, including Don Shy, the younger brother of Dave’s friend, Les.  Don became the U.S. National decathlon champion and later played halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He was also on the cover of Sports Illustrated.  Les played for the Dallas Cowboys during their championship years.

When Dave was about a sophomore a fundamental revolution in vaulting occurred. From old bamboo, to lightweight aluminum poles there now appeared flexible fiberglass poles.  These poles allowed the vaulter to transfer much more forward kinetic energy into upward (elastic) propulsion.  The first fiberglass poles did not bend very much. Today they bend almost 90 degrees and the vaulter turns upside down with his legs pointing straight up.  The world record, which for 22 years remained below 16 feet, and had only been raised 10 inches in all those years, shot up to 18 feet within 9 years, an astounding improvement unmatched by any other sports event.

What kind of athlete would attempt to do this?  Very very few.  World class sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers will wander off to the pole vault area and shake their heads. Man, this is crazy they mutter.  Who would run full blast (the best vaulters are extremely fast) holding a 16 foot pole 6 inches below the top, (with hands nearly 3 feet apart) planting the pole in a box and flying upside down and then shooting another 4-5 feet up from the top of the pole as they turn and arch over the bar.

I think it is one of the most amazing athletic feats one can view.  It takes (beside speed):  strength, body awareness, gymnastics, and a fearless attitude. Check out a YouTube video of today’s record holder, Armand Duplantis, when he vaulted 20’ 5+” last year.  It’s nearly unbelievable.  BTW he is 5’ 11” and weighs 175. 

Dave went on to Occidental College while I entered high school.  Oxy, as it was called, despite its size, had for decades fielded an excellent track and field team. Several Olympians came out of their program, including one world record holder in the pole vault, Bob Gutowski who went 15’8” in 1957.  Dave vaulted as a freshman, setting a record, and then broke his foot in his sophomore year.  He returned in his senior year for the last three track meets at Oxy.  I knew his ultimate goal:  pole vault 15 feet.

Meanwhile I was doing my own track thing in high school, coached by Bud Peterson, who was in my parents’ high school class.  Bud was a hurdle coach, with some sprinters thrown in, but foremost it was hurdlers for him.  As when my brother vaulted there was no one really coaching field events, in particular no one seemed to know anything about fiberglass poles.  As for me it was high hurdles, day after day.  In the meets I also high jumped and broad jumped, which I never practiced, and I became the league leader in all three events.

My vaulting story is this.  Since Bud had “coached” my brother he asked me once before a critical meet if I could please vault, maybe go 10 or 10’6”.   I might grab some points.  So I said, well OK?  (I think I had jumped 9’ 6” messing around the year before).  Thus trying to pole vault that day I took off and my left foot hit the pole on the way up.  I spun around 180 degrees, fell into the pit and both my knees simultaneously wapped me in the forehead.  I knew immediately I was done for the day, although feeling OK (well, just a bit high) and not remembering my hurdle race 20 minutes before.  My friend Steve found me wandering around in a daze and retrieved the coach.  Bud looked into my eyes and told me to sit in a certain infield area and not move.  This I did fairly happily thinking how odd I felt.  My memory, such that it is, returned later that night.  That was the end of my vaulting life, which was never my “event.”  It was complicated, dangerous and much too crazy.

My brother continued his quest, and finally, in what was the last meet and vault of his life, won his college conference championship, clearing 15 feet. Very few people in the world his age have ever done that.

When he turned 65 I bought him a highway sign.  It is one of those on bridges that alert approaching trucks of the how high the span is. The sign hangs in his well-kept garage and reads, “Vertical Clearance: 15 Feet.”