Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam (June 22, 1915 – November 13, 2001) was an American

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er who held the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

between 1940 and 1957. He missed the Olympics due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and retired from senior competitions in 1944, though he continued to vault into his sixties. He was inducted into the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 1974. Warmerdam was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, the son of

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

emigrants Adrianus and Gertrude Warmerdam. He grew up in

Hanford, California Hanford is the most populous city and the county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 57,990 at the 2020 United States census, ...

. Because of his ancestry he was more commonly known to both friends and, later, to the media as "Dutch". Warmerdam got his start in pole vaulting in his backyard using the limb of a

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

tree and landing in a pit of piled up dirt. He was discovered by the local track coach and vaulted for

Hanford High School Hanford High School is a public high school located on the northern edge of Richland, Washington. It is part of the Richland School District. The school's mascot is the Falcon, and its school colors are purple and gold. History The high s ...

until his graduation in 1932, after which he attended and vaulted for Fresno State College. Vaulting throughout his career with a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

pole, Warmerdam was the first vaulter to clear , accomplishing that feat at UC Berkeley on April 13, 1940. However, that achievement was not ratified for a world record, and his later vault of 4.60 m on June 29, 1940, was the first ratified jump over 15 feet. During his career, Warmerdam vaulted 15 feet 43 times in competition, while no other vaulter cleared the mark a single time. Warmerdam surpassed the pole vault record seven times in a four-year span, and three of those marks were ratified as world records. His highest outdoor vault was , achieved at the

Modesto Relays The Modesto Relays, now known as the California Invitational Relays is an annual elite track and field meet. It is held about the second weekend in May. For 67 years, the meet was held at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, a track not ...

in 1942, a record which stood until 1957 when

Bob Gutowski Robert Allen "Bob" Gutowski (25 April 1935 – 2 August 1960) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He competed for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia in the Pole Vault where he won ...

broke the mark using a metal pole. Warmerdam won the James E. Sullivan Award in 1942, but was never able to compete in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

because the 1940 and 1944 games were cancelled due to World War II, and by 1948 he was coaching professionally and therefore ineligible. However, he continued competing as an early practitioner of

Masters athletics Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics (sport), athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross ...

. He still is ranked in the world all-time top ten list in the M60 Decathlon. Warmerdam went on to coach track and field at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

until his retirement in 1980. His team won the second

NCAA Men's Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division II men's outdoor track and field championships (known as the NCAA College Division outdoor track and field championships between 1963 and 1972) are contested at an annual track meet hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

, essentially at home at

Ratcliffe Stadium Ratcliffe Stadium is a collegiate athletic venue in the western United States, located on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. Opened in 1926, it was renamed in 1941 after their first football coach, Emory Ratcliffe. The ...

.Championship History
ncaa.com Fresno State named its track stadium Warmerdam Field in his honor. Dutch is a member of several halls of fame, including the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in New York City. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after ...

Hall of Fame. Warmerdam married Juanita Anderson on August 29, 1940, and they were married for 61 years until Dutch's death in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, from

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in 2001. Juanita continued to live in Fresno until her death on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

in 2006. They left behind five children (Mark, Greg, Gloria, David, and Barry) and twenty grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warmerdam 1915 births 2001 deaths American male pole vaulters College track and field coaches in California World record setters in athletics (track and field) Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches James E. Sullivan Award recipients Track and field athletes from Long Beach, California American people of Dutch descent Basketball coaches from California Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California American masters athletes 20th-century American sportsmen