Statmeister Gerard Dumas extends his own WR: 69 years as vaulter

Gerard clears 14 feet in 1966 during masters record days (and note the scrap foam pit).

Becca Gillespy Peter shares a recent note from Roger Ruth: “Most readers of PoleVaultPower would immediately recognize Gerard [Dumas] as a premier pole vault statistician, having gained that status in 45 years of valued contributions since he first provided assistance to Robert Ganslen in his 1970 seventh edition of ‘Mechanics of the Pole Vault.’ What would be far less well-known are details of Gerard’s own vaulting career, especially its almost unprecedented length of continuous participation. With his 80th birthday fast approaching, he now has vaulted in 1,127 meets, including at least two in every consecutive year for the past 69. That should rank as a world record in consecutive competitions. If you know of any other vaulter with equal or more, please provide the details.” I agree, and here’s my interview with him in 2007.

Here are the best results each year in Gerard’s record for consecutives:

GERARD DUMAS WORLD RECORD
Sixty-Nine Consecutive Years of Competitions–Best Mark In Each

1948 2.12 1 14.05 Herblay Private School Grade 7 Meet
1949 2.32 1 23.05 Herblay School Sports Day
1950 2.35 4 30.08 Conflans Municipal RĂ©union Jacques Chavalle
1951 3.11 1 03.11 AndrĂ©sy Coupe de l’Automne
1952 3.34i 3= 07.12 Lacretelle Gym RĂ©union en salle du P.U.C.
1953 3.50 9 07.07 Charléty Internationale PUC-RCF-Koblenz
1954 3.70 1 09.05 Charléty Match Paris London juniors
1955 3.80i 2 05.02 Paris University Track Club meet
1956 3.85i 1 12.02 Charléty Gym Meeting National
1957 3.60 2 14.04 Aix en Provence Meeting National
1958 3.75 2 19.10 Albi Meeting International d’Albi
1959 4.00 3 28.05 Chatenay Malabry Nocturne
1960 4.00 1 12.09 Charléty Autumn Championships
1961 4.10 3 08.10 Carcassonne Meeting International de l “ASC
1962 4.16,5 2 31.05 Mantes la Jolie International de l’A.S.M.
1963 4.21,6 3 03.08 Vancouver Brockton Oval Caledonian
1964 4.37 1 07.09 Nanaimo Vancouver Island Championships
1965 4.47 1 31.07 Victoria McDonald Park Scottish Games
1966 4.45,7 1 05.09 Nanaimo Vancouver Island Championships
1967 4.53 3 19.08 UUic Centennial BC vs Washington State dual
1968 4.51 1 04.08 UVic Centennial Provincial Pre-Olympic meet
1969 4.50,1 3 19.07 Richmond BC vs Washington State
1970 4.30 1 14.03 UVic Centennial Vancouver Island Team Trials
1971 4.27,3 4 15.08 Empire Stadium Western Canadian Championships
1972 4.11 2 14.06 UVic Centennial Victoria Summer Championships
1973 4.21 1= 15.09 UVic Centennial 4th Autumn Championships
1974 3.96i 3 23.12 UVic Gym 3rd Annual Christmas Cup
1975 3.96 2 11.06 UVic Centennial Victoria Summer Series
1976 3.96 3 23.05 UVic Centennial Vancouver Island Olympic Trials
1977 3.92 3 18.06 UVic Centennial VAN Island vs VOC- Fraser Valley
1978 3.81 1 20.08 UVic Centennial 5th Canadian Masters Championships
1979 3.70 3 27.07 Hannover, Germany 3rd WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
1980 3.76i 1 26.09 Uvic Gym First Sean STELLE meet
1981 3.90 9 17.06 INS Paris Les Mercredis de Maurice
1982 3.85i 3 11.03 Victoria Mt. Douglas HS 1st Golden Eiffel Tower meet
1983 3.72 3 30.07 UVic Centennial 3rd Philippe HOUVION meet
1984 3.70 3 14.08 UVic Centennial 5th Brent FOUGNER meet
1985 3.70 3 25.06 Roma, Italy WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
1986 3.52 3 18.07 UVic Centennial 6th Sean STEELE meet
1987 3.58 11 24.05 Northridge, CA. University OPEN/Masters
1988 3.37 6 17.07 Richmond BC OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
1989 3.40 1 24.06 Eugene, OR 8th Annual Bill HAYWARD meet
1990 3.30i 4 04.03 Victoria Mt. Douglas HS 7th Robert RICHARDS meet
1991 3.20i 16 19.03 INS Paris 19. Sergey BUBKA weekend special
1992 3.25 2 19.04 Westwood, UCLA Mike TULLY meet
1993 3.20i 5 10.01 Victoria Mt. Douglas HS 11th Jean Michel BELLOT meet
1994 3.35,4 5 13.08 Eugene, OR USA MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
1995 3.20 8 14.04 Pomona, CA Pomona Pitzer Invitational “B ” section
1996 2.85 5 12.10 UVic Centennial 15th.Cornelius WARMERDAM meet
1997 2.95 5 02.07 UVic Centennial 9th Kory TARPENNING meet
1998 2.90 3 18.07 UVic Centennial 13th Pierre QUINON meet
1999 2.92 6 18.09 UVic Centennial 23rd Autumn Championships
2000 2.80i 3 13.02 Victoria Oak Bay HS Gym 11th Owen CLEMENT meet
2001 2.82 1 27.08 Bellingham Parks & Recreation Series final
2002 2.75i 2 15.02 Victoria Oak Bay HS Gym 15th Earl BELL meet
2003 2.75 3 20.09 UVic Centennial 27th Autumn Championships
2004 2.75 4 03.06 UVic Centennial UVIC Twilight
2005. 2.75i 6 17.03 Victoria Oak Bay HS Gym 32th Victoria Indoor Champs
2006 2.57 5 09.10 Victoria 24th annual Cornelius WARMERDAM meet
2007 2.62 5 16.06 Duncan Garrioch Invitational
2008 2.50 6 07.06 Duncan Garrioch Invitational
2009 2.40 8 23.09 27th Raul ESTRADA Classic
2010 2.35 1 10.07 West Seattle Alki Beach Vault
2011 2.30 4 02.07 Victoria 8th Doug WOOD meet
2012 2.22 8 12.05 UVic Centennial Dogwood Relays
2013 2.15 1 11.05 UVic Centennial Dogwood Relays
2014 2.10i 1 14.02 Kamloops BC Masters Indoor Championships
2015 2.15i 7 26.02 Victoria Oak Bay HS Gym 32nd Raul ESTRADA Classic

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March 14, 2015

7 Responses

  1. Curt Morgan - March 15, 2015

    This seems as good a place to repeat some of my favorite proverbs on age and aging as any.

    “A man is as old as his arteries” (or, alternately, his heart)

    “Nobody loves life like an old man”.

    “Age withers only the outside”.

    and finally…

    “The nigher Death’s day, the more should old men play.”

  2. Weia Reinboud - March 15, 2015

    His result list starts with 2.10 and ends (at the moment) with 2.15. Life is a curve.

  3. al cestero - March 15, 2015

    god bless him…! being from the freehold nj area, i believe the pole vault guru is dr. richard ganslen a freehold hs and columbia grad , who was ncaa champ in 1939 …i believe he still holds the FHS PV record. i learned of this from his younger brother ray who was a local golfsmith that became a friend of mine..it’s ray’s belief, that , had WW2 not taken place,and the games were held in 1940 &1944, his older brother “dick” might have been olympic champion.. it was ray that , upon hearing of my love of T&f , gave me a copy of the masters rankings from 1980…

  4. Jerry Donley - March 16, 2015

    Ken: It was great to learn that both Roger and Gerard are still up and around. Roger Ruth is one of the greatest Masters pole vaulters. In the late 1970’s he was still vaulting well over 14 feet and I believe as a Master he jumped over 15 feet feet, and, is one of the truly nice persons as is Gerard. They were great to compete against and with. Thanks for running the article. Jerry Donley

  5. Jeff Davison - March 16, 2015

    Amazing marks. Think about the different types of poles used over all those seasons.

    Keeping track of his own marks for all those seasons is equally impressive.

  6. Warren Hamill - March 18, 2015

    Hey Gerard. Thanks for having helped an old decathlete set a lifetime PB, in the PV, at age 59.

  7. Bubba Sparks - March 19, 2015

    LOVE Gerard and Roger!!

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