- Trampoline History -
The 4th World Championships returned to Great Britain under the veteran leadership
of Meet Director Ted Blake.
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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:
1. This was the first World Championship for tumbling.
2. Synchronized trampoline was held as an exhibition competition with expectations for it to become an official event in 1966.
3. Bob Bollinger's new difficulty rating called, "Axial Rotation System," was used as a guide to determine athlete seeding and qualification.
4. Governing members of the newly formed International Trampoline Federation (F.I.T.) were in attendance.
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Competitors were matched against each other in pairs and entered into a modified double elimination tournament. Winners of the first round continued on through the Championship bracket. Losers in the first round automatically went into the Class B consolation bracket. Competitors were seeded on the basis of ratings on other information supplied by their national associations. An optional 10-bounce routine was required from each competitor.
At the conclusion of the trampoline and synchronized events the 1st World Tumbling Championships commenced. The same modified double elimination tournament rules used for trampoline were applied to tumbling. Each tumbler was required to execute two routines down the mat in each match, and his performance was judged against that of his opponent's following each pass. The first pass must contain predominately forward movements and the second predominately backward movements. In case of a tie, a third optional routine was required.
"The system evaluates individual stunts and combinations and assigns a numerical "grade" for each on the basis of difficulty. The difficulty is determined by the degree of rotation about a body axis. For example, a front drop, or 1/4 rotation = 1 point. For each additional 90 degrees of lateral rotation the rotation value increases 1 point. A forward somersault (360 degrees) = 4 points. For a twisting somersault (rotation around the longitudinal axis & the lateral axis combined) the value increases 1 point for each 1/2 twist (180 degrees) and 1 point for each 1/4 somersault (90 degrees) for a total value of 6 points."
"Bonus points are added to the basic rotation value if the takeoff or the landing is made from the front or backdrop position rather than the feet."
"When stunts are placed in combination (a routine) the value of one stunt (B) is influenced by the value of the one proceeding it (A). Thus the combination value is determined by a process of multiplication:"
Stunt B = Stunt B + (Stunt A x Stunt B)
10
Three Cheers for Ted Blake!
Ted Blake
Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the U.K., died on January 24. Queen Elizabeth promptly decreed his funeral be held on Saturday, January 30th...which happened to be the SAME day as the scheduled World Championships! This unexpected challenge could have pushed any other ordinary competition organizer into a tailspin. But in true "Ted Blake form," he managed to retain all hotel bookings, shuttle competition participants between venues as well as fill the Hall with 2,000 enthusiastic spectators. Once again, producing a spectacular show for all!
Collen Melvin and Marijke Van den Boogard present Ted Blake with a gift from the South African trampoline team.
The grand sport of
trampoline bounced to international status
with the First World
Trampoline Championships held in
London on March 21, 1964.
Twelve countries sent their
finest trampoline athletes to
the gala event; each hoping to capture the
title of
Best in the World!
L-R: Frank LaDue, Kurt Baechler, Annie and George Nissen,
and Duane F. Bruce at the Basel Turnfest, Switzerland, 1959
The origins of trampoline
as sport began in the 1930’s, when young George Nissen invented and built
trampolines designed for school and college use. By 1958, following the wide
acceptance of his trampoline throughout the United States, George Nissen and
his experts at the Nissen Trampoline Company focused their efforts east,
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Here is a wonderful historical film from 1955, “Whatever Goes Up,”
featuring George Nissen, the inventor of the trampoline, his wife Annie and
their performing partner Frank LaDue.
Meanwhile, George
employed Ted Blake who in 1949, had introduced trampoline into the British school
curriculum, and ultimately became Managing Director of Nissen
Trampoline Ltd. in Romford, Essex.
Ted Blake, Kurt Baechler
and Frank LaDue, organized
the trampoline clinics, courses and competitions that spread beyond the
United Kingdom, throughout Continental Europe and even into South Africa.
Video: Frank LaDue and Kurt Baechler, in Switzerland during the late 1950s - - demonstrating the trampoline:
The sport quickly took hold thanks to the support
and praise from many, including these early advocates and pioneer teachers:
George Nissen and Annie Nissen
Nissen-Eterna Cup. Wasen, Switzerland. 1958
Individual trampoline clubs within each country
staged their own contests and demonstrations and in August of 1958, Kurt Baechler
organized the Nissen-Eterna Cup, in Wassen, Switzerland. Although it was not a
formal “national” competition, the Nissen-Eterna Cup provided nearly fifty athletes who participated with the opportunity to compare their skills
against those from other clubs. The Nissen-Eterna Cup continues on today and holds the distinction of being the longest-running trampoline competition in the world.
The British National Trampoline Championships
(Middlesex, UK) in 1959 opened the door for other countries to follow suit and
host their own now-official national competitions. Soon, borders were crossed
as neighboring countries staged multi-nation contests and challenges.
The circle of international
competition expanded even further when in 1960, a team of six Americans
returning from a 42-day tour of South Africa accepted an invitation to bounce
against their European counterparts in Freiberg, Germany, and Zurich,
Switzerland. This was the first official competition between trampolinists representing America andEurope.
Chuck Clarkson, Ron Munn, Charles Bates, Ed Cole,
Ann Coleman and Barbara Gallegher
By the end of 1963, George
Nissen, Ted Blake, and Kurt Baechler knew that there was enough interest in the
sport of trampoline to justify a world championship. The trio elected Ted Blake
to organize and run the event, which was slated for March 21,1964 in London.
Ted promptly secured stately Royal Albert
Hall for the competition!
Friday, March 20th,
1964 – Spirits were high as athletes, judges, and officials (all guests of the
British Amateur Gymnastic Association and Nissen Trampoline Company) assembled
at competition headquarters; the prestigious Prince of Wales Hotel. It was the the largest group ever assembled for what would be the First World’s Open
Trampoline Championships.
"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.
The FIT logo was originally designed by
Newton Elberson, Lafayette, LA.
- Trampoline History - Following a successful First World Trampoline Championships, George Nissen and
Ted Blake organized a meeting to discuss the future of trampolining in the world.
The announcement in the competition brochure read:
“The time has come to consider an International Federation of Trampolining and
a meeting on Sunday morning, after the Championships has been arranged at St.
Mary’s College, Twickenham, Middlesex, to discuss this."
At the March 22nd meeting several important resolutions were passed:
A. That an International Federation of
Trampolining be established.
B. That each country send a representative to a second
meeting, to be held Wednesday, July 29, at 10 A.M. at Frankfurt (Main) Deutsche Turnschule, that will continue the formation of the International Federation of Trampoline. C. That a world championship be held every year.
D.Finally, election of temporary officers, (that were formally elected at the July meeting):
President Rene Schaerer, Switzerland
Vice-President Ted Blake, Great Britain
General Secretary Erich Kinzel, West Germany
Treasurer Richard Vereecken, Belgium
On behalf of the new organization, F.I.T. President Rene Schaerer, and General Secretary Eric Kinzel placed a welcome letter in the brochure of the Second World Trampoline Championships, held in London on January 30, 1965.
Under the expert guidance of the F.I.T., the World Trampoline
Championships continued their success and growth. At the 1965 championships, the events of tumbling and synchronized trampoline were permanently added to the program. Full history of: 1964 - 2013 World Trampoline Championship results.
Ron Froelich
“In the years
that followed, the discipline grew rapidly. In 1988, it received recognition of
the International Olympic Committee, a crucial first step towards final
consecration, its official inclusion in the programme of the Olympic Games. To
achieve this objective, the FIT in 1998, was integrated within the structure of
the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and finally, in 2000,
achieved its Olympic dream in Sydney (AUS), under President Ron Froehlich
(USA).”
(From: www.usagym.org 3/7/2014)
A trampolinist performs high above the judges at the
2000 Olympics in Sydney. (Getty Images)
2014
We look forward to the
2014 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships
hosted by USAGymnastics, Nov. 7-9; in Daytona Beach, Florida.
