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AAU Mister America - Discuss the AAU History
funk51:
ronMan, Vol 17, No 2, Page 17, September 1957
Ron Lacy, Mr. America
Bohaty Second, Johnson Third
by Alan O'Brien
FROM the first moment that Ronald "Spec" Lacy stepped upon the stage at the big new Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, Florida, it was evident to everyone that here was "Mr. America for 1957". They were looking at an athlete, gentleman and a scholar. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Ron now makes his home in Lexington, deep in the heart of the Blue Grass country. For the past year he has devoted a good deal of his training to the 3 olympic lifts and feels that this type of a program was the biggest asset in helping, to develop his fine physique. Recently he totaled around 850 pounds as a light-heavyweight and that is really fine lifting.
After the lifting the first day we all got a good chance to see the contestants as the only subdivision was held, that being the "Most Muscular" man in America for 1957. Top award went to Ron Lacy. He really had the "muscles" and fine proportions to go with it.
All of the judges which included Karo Whitfield, John Terpak, Bob Hoffman, Al Christensen, Jack Ayers, Steve Klisanin and myself, agreed that the winner was one of the most symmetrically built men in the world.
The new system of scoring was used and proved very successful. There were 7 judges and each could give from one to twenty points per man. Five points for muscular development, 5 points for symmetry and proportion, 5 points for general appearance, and 5 points for athletic ability. The latter points were scored at the interviews which were held prior to the actual judging on the posing platform. If a man was a good weightlifter and could do well on the lifts he was usually awarded the full 5 points. Many of the fellows had played college football and were good at other sports so this helped them to get as many points as possible. Also at the interviews it gave the judges a chance to talk with the contestants and find out about their education and general background. Also 5 points were judged for muscular development at the sub-division so that only left 10 points to be awarded at the final session where the fellows were scored under the posing lights.
As usual the high and low score for each man was eliminated and that left a total from 1 to 100 points that a contestant could receive.
One of the contestants entered was big Bruce Randall, who once weighed over 400 pounds. Last year he was 187 and this year he entered at 230 pounds. It was interesting talking to him at the interview as he told us how and why he had jumped up and down with his bodyweight. When he weighed around 400 he pressed 370 which is really something. He looked very good under the lights but his upper body overshadowed his legs somewhat and he must have at least a 52 inch chest. Fifth place went to Bill Golumbick of California, present holder of the "Mr. Pacific Coast" title. Bill is quite short and possessed a fine set of abdominals but will need a little more muscular size and if he gets this he is sure to place high next year.
Fourth place was awarded to Tom Sansone from New York. Here is a fellow who has improved very fast and had a very good posing routine and fine proportions plus good muscular size. He has won a good many titles up in the east and is quite an athlete on top of that. If memory serves me correct he was second or third in the sub-division.
Third place went to a real southern gentleman by the name of Harry Johnson from Atlanta, Georgia. Harry improves every year. This year he really had more size than ever before and if his legs would just grow a little more he is sure to win the title someday soon. I, for one, hope he keeps in shape and will compete again next year as he certainly has the background to be a "Mr. America".
Second place went to Gene Bohaty from Chicago. Gene has taken a big interest in lifting and at the Junior Nationals in El Paso pressed a fine 280 pounds in winning the gold medal for the heavyweight class. He had his bodyweight up around 215 in May and was now about 195 and seemed to be in the best shape of his life. He will be my choice to take the title next year. A lot of the fellows have had good luck in making gains recently by jumping up in bodyweight and doing some lifting and then training hard for about 6 weeks prior to a physique contest, cutting the weight down so as to be in good shape for the event. By the way, if you haven't read Gene's book on the "Beginning and End of the Universe", be sure to do so. His latest is, "How to Cure the Common Cold". His ideas are very good and will give you a few hours of good reading enjoyment and will leave you with something to think about. Write to him in care of the Irving Park YMCA in Chicago.
Then, as mentioned, the big prize went to Ron Lacy. Everyone agreed that he was tops and the applause could really be heard and lots of handshakes were in store for him after the presentation. I hope he is able to enter the Mr. Universe contest, as he should do very well in international competition. He plans to resume lifting again and will enter the Senior Nationals next year. Ron also talked to me about getting the Junior Nationals in Lexington for 1958 and we hope he is successful.
funk51:
Muslce Power, Vol 20 No 8, Page 25, November 1957
Ron Lacy Gains Double Victory at Daytona
"Most Muscular" and "Mr. America" Title Fall to 188 lb. Kentucky Jitterbug in Two-day Muscle Contest
by Charles Coster
FOR five years Ronald C. Lacy hoped and waited to win the MR. AMERICA crown before success came his way.
Via the underground we had been 'tipped' as to the probable winner for 1957 long before this contest took place, but not many people dreamed he would take the "Most Muscular" title as well because of his lack of real bodyweight.
The spacious Peabody Auditorium housed an ample, if non-critical audience, and their enthusiasm for well-muscled suntanned bodies could not be mistaken.
Ron Lacy is 27 years old, blond, with a golden colored skin. He works as a physical therapist at the University of Kentucky.
First three in the 'Most Muscular' event were 1st R. Lacy, 2nd T. P. Sansone, 3rd Gene Bohaty.
Sansone appeared to be substantially more muscular than Lacy because of his 6' 0" Height, 19" Arms and near 50" Chest.
Gene Bohaty has had a long association with weight-training, is 40 years of age, and looked extremely well. His good looks, lively personality, and well known lifting ability made him popular with the crowd.
The number of Most Muscular entries was somewhat lower than usual (17) and after the first eight or nine places - the fall away in quality was somewhat noticeable.
Many were interested to see Bruce Randall, the lifter who once weighted nearly 400 lbs., who has now reduced to a hard muscular 195 lbs.
Another bodybuilder showing up well for bulk, definition, and general carriage - was Pete Ganios of New York, who had taken off nearly 20 lbs. of weight for the two contests.
Lacy was delighted when the result of the 'Most Muscular' event was made known and behind the scenes cameras clicked and autograph hunters worked overtime.
He poses well, moves smoothly, is completely at home in front of an audience, and gives you the impression of being a real athlete.
These attributes of course enable him to make the most of himself . . . his well proportioned body conveying an impression of greater height and weight than actually were the case.
So ended the 'Most Muscular' event and the first leg of the National Olympic Lifting Championship - at midnight, which meant that press photographers and radio interviewers had to rush their work through pretty fast to meet commitments.
The Judges for the Most Muscular event were: Al Christiansen, John Terlazzo, Bob Hoffman, Leopoldo DeLeon, Alan O'Brien, Johnny Terpak and Enrico Jahne.
The main MR. AMERICA contest was held the following day, after the conclusion of the Heavyweight Olympic Lifting (June 23rd).
Entries were about the same as for the previous evening. Here are the placings of the first five Mr. America contestants: 1st Ron Lacy, 2nd Gene Bohaty, 3rd Harry Johnson, 4th Thomas P. Sansone, 5th Bill Golumbick.
The Mr. America judges were not announced to the audience, but they were probably similar to those for the Most Muscular event. There was a little delay in announcing the winner -- and certain sections of the crowd started to shout for Lacy.
The result was well received (with a little booing from those humorously inclined) while those in the audience not expert in such matters were content to learn from the experience.
As soon as the first three men mounted the rostrum - the crowd surged towards the footlights where the photographers were shooting pictures.
Muscles - tanned to a golden hue from sun-drenched Daytona beaches . . looked superb under arc-lights, as the three lucky winners gave the crowd everything they had in a sequence of streamlined poses that lasted for many minutes.
Muscles and tendons writhed and twisted at maximum capacity as cameras flashed and cine-films whirred - perpetuating the occasion.
These rare and brief moments are always 'great'. For the contestants it symbolized the climax of long arduous weeks of most careful and scientific preparation, and the zest of the audience helped them recapture some of the 'magic' they had maybe lost during those exacting final training sessions.
At such a time an audience can be lifted to a state of exhalted fervor -- and the well produced Daytona Beach production was no exception to the rule.
These contests are no longer limited to the 'mere Muscle' alone. All entrants at these affairs have to satisfy the judges about other things also.
They have to be tested upon -- eyesight, hearing, hair condition, general looks, teeth, skin texture, athletic ability, and general intelligence . . . as well as overall musculature. If you can pass all these test with flying colors - you are pretty good.
I feel that there will be no complaints about the 1957 Mr. America. He is perhaps not the greatest we have seen, when compared with the Grimek and Reeves era, but he is certainly a good titleholder.
Ron is not tall or heavy, is an Olympic lifter as well as a bodybuilder, and first developed an interest win weights about five years ago.
He is a good football player and sprinter -- as well as being a jitterbug enthusiast.
Past-times like these have probably influenced the grace and power of his leg development, trim waistline, and easy athletic carriage.
But for the full Ron Lacy story - you will have to wait a little longer. Next month we hope to tell you about him in Muscle Builder, including the exercises and weights he uses, together with his system of training, which is identical with the modern methods advocated by the Weider System in our magazines for so long.
funk51:
1958 Mr America - AAU
1 Tom Sansone
2 Lynn Lyman
3 Gene Bohaty
4 Robert Walker (1)
5 Fred Schutz
6 Earl Clark
7 Vern Weaver
8 Ray Routledge
9 Bill Golumbick
9 Sam Martin
9 Chuck Sipes
12 Joseph Baratta
13 Roy Smith Jr
14 Ed Bailey (1)
14 Everett Evans
16 Alfred Souza
17 Gene Reid
18 Charles Collras
19 John Homola
Most Muscular
1 Tom Sansone
funk51:
IronMan, Vol 18, No 2, Page 9, September 1958
Tom Sansone
"Mr. America 1958"
by Franklin Page
PHYSIQUE Contests have been subject to a good deal of criticism lately. Though this is admittedly an area in which judgements are difficult, personal feelings very high and rivalries intense, the results of the 1958 Mr. America contest should set many troubled minds at ease. In the whole history of the contest few athletes have so conspicuously deserved the title or worked for it with greater care and dedication than this year's winner, Tom Sansone.
Tom Sansone is the bearer of a famous name in the iron game. Any old-timer will vividly remember Tony Sansone the great exponent of the classical physique and, in the late 20's and 30's, the ideal athlete from the point of view of artistic proportion and refinement of muscularity. Tom is not related to the older Tony, and his development is of an entirely different type, but they share the same high standard of excellence in physique, striking personality and intellectual competence.
Placings in the Mr. America Contest
1 Tom Sansone Berkeley HC 95
2 Lynn Lyman Globe 92½
3 Gene Bohaty Irvin Johnson's Gym 89
4 Robert Walker Unattached 87½
5 Fred Shutz York 86½
6 Earl Clark Chula Vista 85½
7 Vern Weaver York 84
8 Ray Routledge Pacific Coast 82½
9 Charles Sipes Pearl's 79
9 Sam Martin Unattached 79
9 Bill Golumbick Unattached 79
Joseph Baratta Unattached 77
Roy Smith, Jr Delinger's 76½
Everett Evans Ebony Gym 76
Alfred Souza Pearl's 74
Gene Reid Tanny's 71
Chas. Z Collras unattached 67
John Homola Unattached 65½
In judging the quality of a physique, proportion must be one of the first standards to apply. In the case of Tom Sansone this is perhaps best done when he is fully clothed and his spectacular muscularity temporarily obscured. His weight and bulk is so well distributed and the massive volumes of his body (shoulders, chest and hips) are so well adjusted to his skeletal structure and height that there is no sense of over-development or abnormality. One readily recognizes that he is a well-set-up young man and he looks as though he would have more than ordinary strength, but I doubt that I should immediately spot him as being extraordinary in muscle size.
As soon as Tom strips the picture changes radically. I saw him go through a complete workout fully clothed in sweat pants and two shirts. At the end of the evening when he stripped off, I was thunderstruck by the incredible size and muscularity of his body which far exceeded anything that I thought possible on a man of his size and age. His muscles stand out in crisp definition in a relaxed state and their enormous bulk is evident without any flexing whatever. His skin is smooth and finely textured; the rivers of sweat that cleanse his body in every workout carry off all impurities and waste. This impression of cleanliness is one of which I was very conscious and it was borne out not only in every line and movement but in the whole character of the man.
A native New Yorker, Tom is now 22 years old. He began training at the age of 16, but his actual training time adds up to only 4 full years, discounting a couple of layoffs, one at the time his mother passed away. Tom was coached along the line by his older brother who is now a physical education instructor in the New York public schools, a career for which Tom is also preparing himself. He has trained in many gyms in the New York area and at home. The results he has achieved are proof of the systematic methods he has followed and of the fact that he has neglected no device or training hint to develop every detail of his physique.
On the evening I observed his training Tom followed a full schedule for legs, back. chest and shoulders; he did a minimum amount of concentrated work on arms and abdominals. This is the general pattern of his training with occasional heavy work on arms and midsection. He employs no unusual exercises but performs all his movements with intense concentration and moderately heavy poundages. For example, he performs presses behind neck on a stationary pressing machine which permits no deviation from a direct upward press. As experienced bodybuilders know, this intensifies the movement since the weight may not be pressed forward or back to ease the strain on the shoulder girdle and arms. In the downward movement of this exercise Tom allows the weight to press half way down his back, swelling out his chest and applying terrific pull on his pectorals in bringing the weight up again to shoulder level. In all pulling and pressing movements Tom concentrates on the chest and shoulder muscles and this has resulted in one of the most massively developed chest and shoulder complexes in the world today.
Tom was certainly never a weakling and he began to show remarkable form very soon in his career. I can recall a photograph of him at the age of 18 when he already had outstanding pectorals, triceps and deltoids. In 1954 he won the Mr. National Collegiate title; in 1955 came the Senior Metropolitan New York, the Mr. Long Island, Mr. New York State and Mr. Gotham titles; in 1956, Mr. New York City; in 1957 he placed 4th in the Mr. America contest and was awarded 2nd place in the Most Muscular division. He attracted wide attention in this last contest and it was obvious to most critics that he was a man who deserved to place much higher. There is no doubt that Tom himself was aware of his superiority and this spurred him on to the big push in 1958. He swept the Junior Mr. America and Most Muscular Man titles cleanly in May at York; from that time there was no doubt in any of our minds that this was his year to go to the top. The big thing was to do it far outside his own geographical area and against the best in a muscle-conscious town.
Tom is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs just under 200 pounds for a contest. He has a 17¾ inch neck and a 50 inch chest but it is not the sheer size that is so impressive. His pectorals are very large and heavy but they do not spread weightily over his chest in relaxation; they maintain a crisp rounded shape at all times. Under flexion his pectorals swell to a hard striated bulk that matches his deltoids in height and density. His upper arms measure 19 inches cold; I measured them at 19½ inches after his workout, in which his arms were worked lightly. A week or so earlier his arms had been measured at 19¾ inches and I have no doubt that he could pump them up past the 20 inch mark if he felt the urge to do so. Again, it is not only the size that is so impressive, but the general shape and definition. When showing his arms, Tom usually flexes his left arm which is a bit more defined and higher-peaked than his right arm but no larger. His biceps bunch up into a full baseball that is clearly defined throughout its circumference and with the attachments under the deltoid and between the supinator and flexor muscles of the forearm clearly shown. This biceps is hard as rock and it is possible to feel the minute tissue of the muscle like an agglomeration of small wire strands. This intense development gives all of Tom's muscles a remarkably vibrant quality and a fine texture and flexibility. His triceps have long been, in my opinion, developed to peak condition and their bulk adds greatly to the contour and size of his flexed arm. Tom's 14½ inch forearm is cut into planes when flexed, rounded and full when relaxed. All of this is capped by unusually large deltoids that separate clearly into their anterior and posterior bodies. Tom's torso defies description, with every muscle - serratus, abdominals, obliques, intercostaIs-in razor sharp clarity. His abdominals look like large biscuits and I have not seen erectus muscles bulge so roundly since the great little Hercules, Gregory Paradise, used to hold pennies between the layers of his erectus?
The lower sections of Tom's body are as massively proportioned as his upper body, with full 27 inch thighs tying into a solidly-muscled hip girdle. Tom's hips are compact but wide; this gives him added strength, I am sure, and it is a tribute to the bulk of his upper body that his hips look narrow by comparison? His calves are a bit on the slender side but well-shaped and muscular.
Tom has never lifted in competition but is capable of a 280 pound press at any time.
Behind all this phenomenal physical development is one of the kindest, gentlest and most thoroughly likeable guys I have ever met. Though Tom has now reached the top, it is by no means at the cost of a well rounded personality and purposeful character. He attends New York City College two evenings a week, from 6 to 10 o'clock, and works in a clerical job in mid-Manhattan 8 hours every day. This leaves 3 nights a week to train and weekends to study. This has been Tom's schedule all year and it is clearly a tough one. It takes the little added purpose, that most men don't have, to lick such a regimen. Tom has an alert and accomplished mind to match his superb physique, and a personal warmth that makes anyone happy to be around him.
It would be a boon to American bodybuilding morale if Tom could represent this country in international contests; no one would make us prouder or acquit himself better. The right man got it this time.
funk51:
Muscle Builder, Vol 1 Num 6, Page 9, October 1958
Tom Sansone Wins Mr. America and "Most Muscular" Titles!
by Leroy Colbert
Joe Weider knows how to pick a winner every time! You'll recall that in our July issue Joe predicted the outcome of the 1958 Mr. America contest. His choice - big Tom Sansone.
Well, no sooner had the printing ink dried on those pages than his prediction came true, for on the night of June 22 in Los Angeles, handsome Tom Sansone did become our eighteenth Mr. America, and never was a title more honestly and deservedly won!
Not that his victory was an easy one, however. Tom faced some really rugged competition from that popular California favorite, Lynn Lyman, who placed second; and from those two veteran contestants from San Diego - Earl Clark and Bill Golumbick.
Personally, I am very proud of Tom's victory for I have come to know him well. I've watched him train - I've been his workout partner - and I can vouch for the truth of the statement that his sensational physique is very largely the product of the same Weider training principles which, by now, every modern bodybuilder, including myself, faithfully follows.
It is because Tom patterned his workouts so closely after Weider methods because he had the determination and drive to train harder than other contestants that we knew he'd take the title.
Sansone continually utilizes the famous Weider copyrighted principles of Flushing, Cheating and Peak Contraction in his training. In preparing for the Mr. America contest he combined all three in a unique three-workouts-per-day plan, which, as you can see, really paid off for this phenomenally muscular young man.
Normally his workout is a three-hour affair, and when preparing for local contests, about four hours. But for the "big one" Tom pulled out all the stops. With the titanic reservoirs of power and energy he had built up through training wisely according to modern training principles - through a careful check of his diet to see that it was kept ultr-high in protein - and through conserving that energy by getting plenty of sleep and relaxation - he was able to power-pack his muscles and build them to giant size with blade-sharp definition in three rugged daily workouts!
Having observed him carefully during his workouts, I can testify that he has thoroughly learned the art of complete concentration. Because of this he can force out extra reps - never giving a second thought to the weight he is using - and bring intense mental contraction and thought force to focus on every repetition of every set of every exercise he performs.
The transformation of Tom Sansone from just another bodybuilder to a world-recognized champion is one of the great stories in modern bodybuilding history. But it is just that - it is just one story in the continuing cycle of stories of magnificently-developed men. It is the story that we can write about you, if you follow Tom's good example and pattern your own workouts after the unparalleled principles on the Weider system. If you have his burning desire for physique greatness - his determination to faithfully serve his ideal - and faithfully follow along the Weider way, then success is as assuredly yours as it is this great champion's whom we honor here.
Tom Sansone is a sterling example of all that is fine and noble in our American youth and we known that he will go further along to greater glory in our beloved sport.
All of us wish him the greatest success and happiness in whatever he does. Weightlifting and bodybuilding can use champions like Tom, and we know that he'll wear his newly-won crown with the dignity of the true champion he is!
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