Bill Sefton

Bill Sefton

Bill Sefton in 1935
Personal information
Born	January 21, 1915 Los Angeles, California, United States
Died	May 2, 1982 (aged 67) Plano, Texas, United States
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
Sport	Pole vault
Club	USC Trojans, Los Angeles
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1936

William Healy "Bill" Sefton (January 21, 1915 – May 2, 1982) was an American pole vaulter. Sefton broke the pole vault world record several times in 1937 and placed fourth in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Sefton was a good pole vaulter already in 1932, while still at Polytechnic High School. He vaulted 13 ft  5 ¹⁄₄ in (4.09 m) for a national high school record and shared first place in the California interscholastic championship meet. In 1934 he vaulted at least 14 ft (4.26 m) on four occasions, clearing 14 ft  ¹⁄₂ in (4.28 m) at Santa Barbara on April 28, and tied for first at the national junior championships with a new meeting record of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m).

Sefton and Earle Meadows were teammates at the University of Southern California and collectively known as the "Heavenly Twins". The two tied for first at the 1935 NCAA championship meet, both vaulting 14 ft  1 ¹⁄₈ in (4.29 m) for a new meeting record as USC won the team title. They also tied at the national championships, both clearing 13 ft  10 ³⁄₈ in (4.22 m) to share first place.

Sefton and Meadows tied at the NCAA meet again in 1936, this time vaulting 14 ft  1 ³⁄₄ in (4.31 m) to improve their meeting record by a fraction of an inch. At the national championships George Varoff won with a new world record of 14 ft  6 ¹⁄₂ in (4.43 m) while Sefton vaulted 14 ft (4.26 m) for third. However, the Olympic trials were held separately the following week and there Varoff only placed fourth and was left off the team, while Sefton, Meadows and returning Olympian and USC graduate Bill Graber all cleared 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) to tie for first. It was the first time one university had swept the three Olympic spots at the trials.