WARMERDAM, CORNELIUS

born June 22, 1915, Long Beach, Calif., U.S. byname Dutch Warmerdam American pole-vaulter, the first to attain 4.57 m (15 feet) and the last to set major records with a bamboo pole. A graduate of Fresno (California) State College and Stanford University, Warmerdam, who was of Dutch parents, taught physical education and coached track and field at Fresno State (later California State University at Fresno). Few other athletes have so dominated their sport: Warmerdam cleared 4.57 m and more on 43 occasions before any other person could perform the feat once. On April 13, 1940, at Berkeley, Calif., Warmerdam first achieved a vault of 4.57 m. Using a bamboo pole, he established a world outdoor record of 4.77 m on May 23, 1942, at Modesto, Calif. He won the U.S. pole-vault title continuously from 1937 to 1944, except in 1939. If not for World War II he probably would have won Olympic gold medals in 1940 and 1944. He retired from pole-vaulting competition in 1944, and his records stood for several years. Not until Jan. 27, 1951, did Bob Richards become the second man to vault 4.57 m. Don Bragg, who employed an aluminum pole, broke Warmerdam's long-standing outdoor record with a vault of 4.8 m on July 2, 1960. In 1975 Warmerdam achieved a competitive vault of 3.2 m at age 60.