- Trampoline History -
The 4th World Championships returned to Great Britain under the veteran leadership
of Meet Director Ted Blake.
_______________________________________
NOTE: The wealth of photos that are included as well as Ted's Blake's enthusiastic descriptions
make it worth your time to read through the competition program posted below! _______________________________________
Marijke van den Bogaard - South Africa
The 4TH WORLD TRAMPOLINE CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 17, 1967
The National Recreation Centre
Crystal Palace
London, England
Watch David Jacobs performing the winning routine:
Jeff Hennessy, Director of this year's Championship made sure
that the visiting competitors and their coaches were treated to
both traditional Southern Hospitality as well as a great competition!
The 3rd World Trampoline Championships
and
The 2nd World Tumbling Championships
April 29-30, 1966
Louisiana Southwest University
Lafayette, Louisiana
During the past year, the F.I.T. Technical Committee had been hard at work
establishing rules for the World Championship event.
1966 World Champions - Wayne Miller (USA) & Judy Wills (USA)
(Along with their winning routines)
Newt Loken Provides Color Commentary...
(Newt Loken, University of Michigan Men's Gymnastic
Coach sent in the following story which was printed
in the June/July 1966 issue of Modern Gymnast.)
"Going into finals Wayne Miller won and David Jacobs was a close second - - this after their two routines on Friday; required and optional. Wayne had 27.95 and Dave 27.85, based on about 9.5 on required and 9.6 on optionals with about 8.8 difficulty ratings. Then we had drama. "All the bouncers went through their routines - - 8 countries - - with the last two up being Dave and Wayne. Dave landed slightly back on his triple back start and then hit a low and hurried Rudie-fliffis which left him low and off balance. About all he could do was a simple back flip and then another easy stunt to build up height and from there it was simply ad-libing his way through the remainder of his routine. He scored way down and finished fifth.
"Wayne hit his routine and walked off with the crown. As you recall, two years ago he was 4th and last year 3rd in the World Meet, so we are all very happy for him. In his home town on top of it! The crowd really gave him a fine ovation."
Video of trampoline, tumbling and awards ceremony.
Men's Synchro ResultsWomen's Synchro Results
1. Wayne Miller - David Jacobs, USA - 15.10 1. Judy Wills - Nancy Smith, USA - 14.90
2. Ian McNaughton - Spenser Wiggins, SA - 13.45 2. Helga Flohl - Maria Jarosch, WG - 13.05
3. Dieter Schultz - Michael Budenburg, WG - 12.75 3. Chariott Parietz - Sue Warns, SA - 12.40
4. Rick Kinsman - Wayne King, Can. - 12.05 4. Wendy Coulton - Lynda Ball, UK - 12.00
5. Clive Brigden - David Curtis, UK - 11.95
Men's Tumbling ResultsWomen's Tumbling Results
1. Frank Fortier, USA - 8.55 1. Judy Wills, USA - 8.85
2. David Jacobs, USA - 8.40 2. Donna Schaenzer, USA - 8.45
3. Richards Wadsworth, USA - 7.85 3. Susan McDowell, SA - 7.60
4. Bill Bottrof, USA - 7.85 4. Paula Crist, USA - 7.35
5. Rick Kinsman, Can - 7.75 5. Irene Hawroth, Can. - 6.40
6. Lilly Strekfus, USA - 6.15
7. Joey Indovena, USA - 5.65
The Trials & Tribulations of a Meet Director...
During last year's 2nd World Championship in London, Competition Director Ted Blake faced the unexpected challenge of coordinating the entire event on the very same day as Winston Churchill's funeral. At this year's Championship, Jeff Hennessy faced sudden challenges as well. The following newspaper article, "Charlie's Corner," by Charles Lenox, was printed in the Lafayette Adverstiser, April 1, 1966.
___________________________
"Things seemed real rosy when Southwestern and Lafayette landed the meet as it seemed that a rich television pact went along with it and there would be no worry about funds. But then the catch came - - the networks didn't have the time for the World Trampoline Championships and therefore didn't shell out the needed money.
"But things were not all gloomy as a national cola company got into the act and said they would help defray the expenses of bringing in foreign athletes. But things didn't go better with..."___". It seems that the cola company wanted to make the presentation in the foreign countries and didn't care about publicity in the United States.
"Then one of the world airline companies jumped in and said they would fly some of the athletes in. Then they found out that the athletes would not be able to come into Lafayette on the company's own planes. The company feared they might lose the publicity angle if the the athletes didn't arrive on the major company's planes.
"So the sports and recreation committee of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce had to guarantee that they would collect $2,800 from people and clubs in Lafayette...and make enough on admissions to offset expenses..."
The people and clubs of Lafayette must have taken up
challenge and rallied for Jeff Hennessy's cause - -
as the event came off as planned.
For the trampolinists, tumblers, coaches and
audience all enjoyed an impressive display of
international talent! Thank you Jeff Hennessy for staging the first world trampoline - tumbling championship held in the United States...an outstanding feat!
"For the first time in trampoline competition, a double elimination tournament was held in place of the usual gymnastic type scoring system. Participants competed in direct man-to-man competition with winners advancing to the next round and the losers dropping back to the losers consolation bracket.
"Competitors performed by pairs, each presenting an optional ten bounce routine and remained on the trampoline until the judges announced their decision. The judges had only to decide which competitor was the winner in each competing pair. The decision was immediate and flashed to the audience with either red or blue cards, corresponding to the colors on the trampoline."
~~~
The Competitors
Forty-one athletes participated representing the countries of: Belgium, Denmark, England, West Germany, Holland, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A. and Wales.
U.S.A. Team
Wayne Miller, Dan Millman, Judy Wills, Gary Erwin
~~~ The Women's Draw & Results
Dennis Horne, "Trampolining; A Complete Handbook." pg. 174
Judy Wills
Judy Wills' winning routine:
"Barani-in fliffis; double back somersault; double back twisting somersault; full twisting back somersault; full twisting back somersault; Rudolph; full twisting back somersault; double back somersault; triple twisting back somersault."
~~~
The Men's Draw & Results
Dennis Horne, "Trampolining; A Complete Handbook." pg. 173
Dan Millman
Dan Millman's winning routine:
"Pike Rudolph out; back somersault with double twist; flying back somersault; double back somersault; flying back somersault; full twisting 1-3/4 back somersault; double twisting cody; flying back somersault; pike 1-3/4 back somersault; double cody."
~~~ The Film George Nissen and Ted Blake had the forethought to commission filming the entire competition. Rob Walker was designated Technical Director; overseeing editing of the final version. For the next several years this 16mm, 20-minute long, "cinema sized" film functioned primarily as a promotional film that George and Ted showed at conventions and trade shows. Sometime during the late 1960's the film went into storage...and wasn't discovered again until 2013, nearly fifty years later! We thank Rob Walker for keeping the film safe all these years. Another thank you goes to Mike Driscoll in England, for transferring the original film into DVD format. Now...you too can watch this historic film, on this historic date; the 50th anniversary of the World's First Open Trampoline Championships!
Special acknowledgements go to these persons for their assistance in providing resources for this article: Tim Blake, Mike Driscoll, Rob Walker, and Dennis Horne.
