Jim Cristy
Cristy circa 1932
Personal information
Full nameJames Crapo Cristy, Jr.
Nickname"Jim"
National teamUnited States
Born(1913-01-22)January 22, 1913
Detroit, Michigan
DiedJune 7, 1989(1989-06-07) (aged 76)
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, Distance
ClubLake Shore Athletic Club
College teamUniversity of Michigan
1934 Graduate
CoachMatthew Mann
Michigan
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1932 Los Angeles 1500 m freestyle

James Crapo Cristy, Jr. (January 22, 1913 – June 7, 1989) was a financial manager for the Updike Company, and a school board President. He was a former American competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events while swimming at the University of Michigan in the early 1930's. He won a bronze medal for the United States at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California in the 1500-meter swim, edging out his better-known freestyle distance rival and future actor Buster Crabbe, who had taken a bronze in the event in the previous Olympics in Amsterdam.[1][2][3]

Overview

James C. Cristy Jr. was born to James Crapo Cristy and Laura Hart in Detroit, Michigan on January 22, 1913, and was the youngest of around four siblings. He was a great-grandson of Henry H. Crapo, Governor of Michigan from 1865-1869. Though his career would be in insurance and as a long-serving financial manager for Upjohn Company pharmaceuticals in Kalamazoo, in his spare time he would take an interest in public office, and serve as an elected school board member of the small Kellogg Consolidated School system. In 1961, he would run as a delegate to Michigan's constitutional convention and in 1968 be appointed by successive Michigan governors to serve on an advisory board to investigate options for public employee pensions and retirement funding.[4][5]

Swimming for Michigan

Though Cristy was not known to have any High School experience as a team swimmer, with the outstanding performances he demonstrated by his Sophomore year, Michigan swim coaches believed he could become one of their outstanding distance swimmers.[6] Under the training of Michigan Head Coach Matthew Mann, in a highlight of his collegiate swimming career in 1932, he beat teammate Frank Kennedy for the Big 10 conference crown in the 440-yard distance freestyle.[6]

As only a Freshman, he finished second in a 500-yard competition against Detroit Athletic Club's Jim Gilhula. Swimming for the State Title in the 440 in 1932, he again finished second with a time of 5:05.5, edged out by only a second behind the leader Gilhula.[6] Jim Gilhula, a challenging competitor, swam for the Detroit Athletic Club and University of Southern California and competed in the 400-meter freestyle at the August 1932 Los Angeles Olympics with Cristy.[7] Cristy was swim team Captain by 1934, his Senior year.[8]

1931, 1932 NCAA Champions

In March of 1931, during Cristy's tenure with the team, Michigan swimming won the NCAA championship at Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club, defeating Rutgers by six points.[9][10]

In 1932, as primarily a distance competitor, Cristy helped the Michigan team go 12-1 in meets. That year Michigan won the Big Ten Conference title and the 1932 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship on individual points. The NCAA meet was held at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor though an official team championship had not been established.[11] On March 26, 1932, less than five months before the Los Angeles Olympics, swimming his signature event, the 1500-meter, Cristy placed second at the NCAA Championships. In the lengthy event, he finished only half a lap behind the strong performance of Austin Clapp of Stanford, who had to set an American record time of 20:03.2 to beat Cristy and win the meet.[12]

AAU and College competition

At the National AAU Swimming Championship in the Spring of 1931, Cristy placed second to Buster Crabbe in the 1500-meter distance event, but would continue to improve his times.[13]

At the National AAU Swimming Championship in New York at the New York Athletic Club pool in April 1932, Cristy, a Big 10 Conference champion in the 440-yard, stayed with the leaders in the 500-yard distance swim, but faded to fourth at the finish, with his Michigan team finishing second in the team competition. [14]

B. Crabbe, 1940's

Continuing to compete against top talent, he lost by eight lengths in the 440-yard freestyle to Buster Crabbe, an L.A. distance star, two-time Olympic medalist, and future actor, in a college meet with the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 1932.[15]Buster Crabbe, a truly challenging competitor for a young Cristy, particularly in the 440-yard event, won the 400-meter freestyle in Olympic record time at the August 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and took the Gold medal, though in a competitive field, he won by only a tenth of a second.[16]

1932, L. A. Olympic medal

'32 1500-meter trials

Swimming in the second heat of the Olympic trials for the 1500-meter event in Los Angeles around August 11, 1932, Cristy placed first winning by 15 meters, though other qualifiers particularly from Japan likely had faster times.[17]

1500-meter 1932 Olympic bronze medal

At the age of nineteen, Cristy received a bronze medal for his third-place finish in the men's 1500-meter freestyle, recording a time of 19:39.5 in the event final, 25 seconds behind the second-place finisher Shozo Makino of Japan. Despite placing third, Cristy's time was under the old Olympic record time of 19:51.8 set in the 1928 games. Japanese swimmers dominated the event with new Olympic record times. Kuzuo Kitamuro, the gold medal winner, finished 27 seconds ahead of Cristy, and was not quite 15 years old, making him the youngest male Olympic swimmer to ever take a gold medal.[2]

Buster Crabbe, Cristy's occasional distance event competitor, who had edged him out the prior year at the AAU Championship in the 1500-meter, took fifth in the 1500-meter Olympic event. Journalists attributed his fifth place finish to the fatigue caused by swimming two 1500 and two 400 meter races earlier in the week.[18] Crabbe had previously won the bronze medal for the U.S. team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[3][1][19][2][20]

1936 Berlin Olympics, 1500-meter event

Cristy placed third swimming the 1500-meter freestyle at the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials in Warwick Nick, Rhode Island, while representing Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club.[21]

He was selected to became part of the U.S. team for the men's 1500-meter freestyle at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and sailed to Europe. Once in Berlin, he placed fourth in his semi-final heat, within a minute of qualifying for the finals, but was not allowed to participate in the final heat which consisted of only seven swimmers.[22]

Engagement, marriage

While working in Chicago, Cristy was engaged to Barbara Sutherland of Philadelphia in March of 1935, while she was a Senior at the University of Michigan.[23] One day after graduating Michigan, Barbara married Jim on June 17, 1935, at his mother's home in Ann Arbor in a small ceremony with family, by a Reverend of the Episcopal Church. Jim's father was deceased, and his brother Harlan was best man. Cristy would remain married to Barbara throughout his life.[24]

Finance manager, Upjohn Company, 1945

Cristy in 1961

After graduating Michigan in June of 1934, Cristy spent ten years in the insurance business in Chicago and Detroit before joining the Upjohn Company, a Michigan-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, around 1945. He served as an elected board member, officer and then Chairman of the Board of Education at the Kellogg Consolidated School System while living in Hickory Corners, a suburb of Kalamazoo. Beginning in 1952, he was a President and active on the board of trustees of Kalamazoo's Senior Citizens Fund and often spoke on the needs of Seniors. In July 1961, he ran as a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention.[5][25]

State employee retirement board

In 1968, he was first appointed to a board by Michigan Governor Romney to oversee state employee retirement systems, in an attempt to make them more uniform and investigate paying pensions through current revenue.[26] In August of 1971, continuing to work in the field of insurance, investment and banking, Cristy was re-appointed by Michigan Governor William Millikin to serve on the board.[27] In April 1974, Cristy and his wife Barbara acted as a developer and proprietor for a property in Michigan on Gull Lake, near Kalamazoo, known as Marshfield.[28]

As a fitting legacy, the Jim Cristy Swimming Scholarship was created as part of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to give financial aid to students who wish to participate in Kalamazoo County competitive swimming or in programs created to learn swimming, but who require financial aid for this purpose.[29]

Cristy died at home on June 7, 1989 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. He was buried at Kalamazoo's Mount Ever-Rest Memorial Park South, as would later be his wife Barbara Sutherland. A memorial service was held at Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College on June 19. Jim was active in the arts, and accepted donations to the Kalamazoo Fontana Society, a supporter of the local music community.[4][2][30]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Jim Cristy Archived 2007-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Jim Cristy, Olympedia Bio". Retrieved 4 Dec 2023.
  3. 1 2 "1500-meter Olympic Event 1928". Retrieved 4 Dec 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Jim Cristy, Basic Find-a-grave Information". Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. 1 2 "Barry-Clinton-Eaton Representative District", Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Michigan, 23 July 1961, pg. 36-37
  6. 1 2 3 "U of M Stars Win in Tank", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, 20 March 1932, pg. 43
  7. ↑ "Jim Gilhula, Olympedia Bio". Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. ↑ "Michigan Swim Team is Winner", The Herald-Palladium, Benton Harbor, Michigan, 17 February 1934
  9. ↑ "1931 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships". International Swimming Hall of Fame.
  10. ↑ "College Swim Title Is Won by Michigan". Chicago Sunday Tribune. March 29, 1931. p. 25 (Part Two, p 1). Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  11. ↑ "NCAA Men's Division I Swimming and Diving Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. pp. 1–3. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Austin Clapp Sets New Swim Record in 1,500 Meters", The Urbana Daily Courier, Urbana, Illinois, 26 March 1932, pg. 7
  13. ↑ "Detroit Youth Will Seek Place in Second International Meet", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, 26 June 1932, pg. 35
  14. ↑ "Ralph Flanigan Wins National 500 yard Swimming Title", The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, 2 April 1933, pg. 18
  15. ↑ "Girl Swimmers Set New Record", Battle Creek Enquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, 8 April 1932, pg. 23.
  16. ↑ "400 Metres Olympic Freestyle, Men, Results". Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  17. ↑ "New Swimming Star at Olympic", Redlands Daily Facts, Redlands, California, 11 August 1932, pg. 8
  18. ↑ Crabbe was fatigued swimming the 1500-meter in the 1932 Olympics in "Kitamura Set Olympic Mark for Japanese", The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, 14 August 1932, pg. 62
  19. ↑ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Swimming at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games, Men's 1,500 metres Freestyle Final Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  20. ↑ "1932 1500 Olympic Competition Results". Retrieved 4 Dec 2023.
  21. ↑ "Kiefer Bests Olympic Mark", The Pasadena Post, Pasadena, California, 12 June 1936, pg. 21
  22. ↑ "1936 1500 Olympic Trial Results". Retrieved 4 Dec 2023.
  23. ↑ "Miss Maslan Will be Bride", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, March 5, 1935, pg. 10
  24. ↑ "Vows are Read at Home Rites", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, 18 June 1935, pg. 10
  25. ↑ "New Law Boosts School Board Election Interest", Battle Creek Inquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, 31 May 1960, pg. 11.
  26. ↑ "Heinz Heads Study to Cure State's Pension Ills", Battle Creek Inquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, 7 October 1968, pg. 3
  27. ↑ "Millikin Picks Board", Ironwood Daily Globe, Ironwood, Michigan, 20 August 1971, pg. 8
  28. ↑ "Open House Today", Battle Creek Inquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, 21 April 1974, pg. 37
  29. ↑ "Jim Cristy Swimming Scholarship". Retrieved 4 Dec 2023.
  30. ↑ "Funerals Today, Cristy, James Crapo Jr.", Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, 11 June 1989, pg. 89
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