OLYMPIANS AT ANNAPOLIS: The Naval Academy at the Olympics Vol. 2 1932-1960 (OLYMPICS AT WAR)

This book is the eighth in the Olympics At War series.

This work merges two institutions popular with Americans, and others, the United States Naval Academy and the Modern Olympic Games and tells the story of both through individual biographies of Naval Midshipmen who competed in the Olympics, detailing both their athletic and naval careers.

The Modern Olympics began in 1896, the brainchild of French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin and the first international Olympic Games, organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), were held in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to 15, 1896.

Fourteen nations and 241 athletes, both numbers disputed, took part in the games. Participants were all male and all European, or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team. Over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC converted these to Gold and Silver medals, and Bronze medals were added for third placed athletes. Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals. The United States won the most gold medals, 11, while host nation Greece, with 47, won the most medals overall. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events. The Olympics would be held every four years, except for 1916, 1940 and 1944, when the world was at war.

The US Navy’s connection to “sports” predates the Navy itself. “Climb the riggings” races and boat races were common in the Continental Navy, held both for money and prestige. Boxing “smokers” were also common but held clandestinely as they were against regulations. It was not until 1920 that boxing became an intercollegiate sport at the Naval Academy.

With the conversion from rigged sailing ships to less physically demanding steam driven vessels in the late 19th Century, there arose concerns about the physical fitness of the fleet, and officers began organizing sporting competitions with committees, rules, trophies and prizes.

As early as the creation of a Naval School at Fort Severn on October 10, 1845, the first Superintendent, Commander Franklin Buchanan, saw the value of exercise and encouraged midshipmen to stay active.

In 1865, following the end of the Civil War, Rear Admiral David D. Porter, the Naval Academy Superintendent, ordered athletics incorporated into the curriculum. In 1867, Annapolis held some of the nation’s earliest crew races. In 1878, the Naval Academy played its first football game, tying the Baltimore Athletic Club with a score of 0-0.

Navy fared better at the first Army-Navy Game held at West Point on November 29, 1890, beating Army 24-0. The following year, Commander Colby M. Chester established the Naval Academy Athletic Association.

In 1903, the first Navy athletic field was constructed at the Norfolk (Va.) Navy Yard and included a football field, baseball diamond, cinder track, grandstands, a swimming pool and a recreation hall/ gymnasium.

In 1912, Naval Academy midshipmen competed in the Olympics for the first time, and midshipmen have competed in every Olympics since through 2000. In total, US Naval Academy athletes have returned with twenty Olympic Gold Medals.

Their stories are worth remembering

SB - Freedom, California