John J. Lysak (August 16, 1914 – January 8, 2020) was an American
canoeist
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
who competed in the Olympic Games in
1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees.
It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...
and worked as a painting contractor until the age of 62.
Early life
Lysak was born in
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, located along the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,402, His brother,
Steven Lysak
Stephen John Lysak (August 7, 1912 – July 30, 2002) was an American sprint canoeist who competed in the late 1940s.
At the 1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1 ...
, was a gold and silver medal-winning canoeist at the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
in London. When John was four years old, his mother died in the
1918 flu pandemic
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
, and his father was forced to send his two sisters to live with relatives in New York. The Lysak brothers, however, were sent to an orphanage in New Jersey for two years, before being transferred to Yonkers, New York.
In their spare time, the duo constructed homemade boats along the Hudson River using tar paper and barrel staves. They soon joined a local rowing club after their talent caught the attention of the members. There John met James O'Rourke, who was to become his partner at the
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...
.
Olympic career
On their journey to Berlin, Lysak and O'Rourke destroyed much of the equipment in the ship's gymnasium and were prohibited from entering it for most of the trip. Lysak competed with O'Rourke in Men's Folding Kayak Doubles, 10 kilometres, on a lake just outside the capital city. The duo did not win a medal, placing seventh in the competition.
While observing some of the athletic events, he claims to have witnessed Adolf Hitler refusing to congratulate or shake the hand of Jesse Owens. On the return journey to the United States, Lysak encountered Owens and inquired about the incident. According to Lysak, Owens responded that "that kind of thing had been going on his whole life. He'd gotten used to it." After the Games, Lysak never returned to Europe.
Later life
Lysak returned to the United States and graduated from
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees.
It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...
South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. After the war, Lysak moved to California to work as a painting contractor, until he retired at the age of 62. His wife, with whom he had two sons, died in 2001. Lysak was able to kayak until 2002 and was reported to be in fair health in 2008, at which point he was living in
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...
, with his two sons. At the time he was reported to be the San Francisco Bay Area's oldest living former Olympian, although he did not display any memorabilia from the Games in his house.