Pete Desjardins

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Pete Desjardins medal table
left to right: Arne Borg, Pete Desjardins, Johnny Weissmuller (1926)
left to right: Arne Borg , Pete Desjardins, Johnny Weissmuller (1926)

Diving

United StatesUnited States United States
Olympic Summer Games
gold 1928 Amsterdam Diving 10 m
gold 1928 Amsterdam Jump 3 m
silver 1924 Paris Jump 3 m

Ulise Joseph "Pete" Desjardins (* 12. April 1907 in St. Pierre-Jolys , Canada ; † 6. May 1985 in Miami ) was an American diver and two-time Olympic champion .

Desjardins moved his family from Canada to Miami Beach as a young boy , where he grew up. He started diving at the age of 13. As a US citizen, he was able to qualify for the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and won a bronze medal in jumping from 3 m. In simple diving he was classified in 6th place.

Four years later at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam he won the gold medal in both high diving and artificial jumping. The result in high diving was controversial. Farid Simaika , an Egyptian who studied at UCLA , got the higher score and was declared the winner first. The victory ceremony was already underway and the Egyptian national anthem was being played when the judges changed their decision. Since four of the five judges Desjardins ranked ahead of the Egyptian, the gold medal was awarded to the American according to the applicable rules.

After the 1928 Games, Desjardins was declared a professional because he participated in swimming demonstrations with Johnny Weissmüller , Martha Norelius and Helen Meany . He formally switched to professional sport in 1931 and continued to give many demonstrations.

Desjardins studied economics at Stanford University from 1927 and was inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame , although he could never win a college championship. This was mainly because the Amateur Athletic Union suspended him in 1929 for accepting too many contributions for demonstrations. However, he was able to win a total of 13 AAU titles.

In 1966 Desjardins was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale .

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personal data
SURNAME Desjardins, Pete
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Desjardins, Ulise Joseph (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American high diver
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Pierre-Jolys , Manitoba, Canada
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1985
Place of death Miami , Florida, United States