Paul Costello: The Triple Olympic Champion

Paul Costello, three-time Olympic Champion.

One of America’s most famous oarsmen is without doubt Jack Kelly Sr., father of Jack Kelly Jr., ‘Kell’, and actress turned princess, Grace Kelly. Kelly Sr., took altogether three Olympic gold medals, in the single sculls and double sculls in 1920, and again in the double sculls in 1924. His partner in the double was his cousin, Paul Costello. In the grand book about Kelly, Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest (2009) author Dan Boyne writes about Costello:

“He was a dark-haired, dour-faced young man, with sloping eyebrows that made him look like he was always wincing. Unlike Kelly, Costello wasn’t always comfortable in the public eye, and most of the photographs taken of him were less than flattering. He had one of those sad, serious faces that had probably always made him look old, despite the fact that he was actually two years younger than Jack. […] In reality he was an amiable man with a generous heart, but his modesty prevented him from playing to the crowds as his cousin did. When reporters asked Costello how he would do during a race, or how he had done afterwards, his standard response was, ‘I let my oars do the talking.’”

In August 2009, a local newspaper in Philadelphia, The Fallser*, published under the header ‘East Falls Past’ a piece about the Olympic oarsman, Paul Costello, where he seemed to have opened up during an interview in 1983 by gerontologist Cherie Snyder. The article, which was some excerpts from the interview, states that Costello, then 89, “an East Falls native who rowed for Vesper Club, was understandably proud as he remembered his athletic achievements”. The article goes on:

When did you start rowing?
My early 20s. I started out like anybody else—a nobody. I won one race the first year. After that, it was rather discouraging to think you’re going to go back and try to win some more.

What happened?
The next year I won three or four. I was motivated terrifically by that. I had a beautiful physique built up from gymnastics and I had the right type of ego that I was going to win.

Was the 1920 Olympics your first?
1920 was in Antwerp. Jack (Kelly, Costello’s cousin) won the singles, and Jack and I won the doubles. In 1924 in Paris I won the doubles with Jack. I was scheduled for the singles the same day so I told Jack “I’m going to scratch it...We can always challenge the champion to rowing.”

Didn’t you also break the world record in single sculling—the 2000 meters?
I rowed a challenge race on the Schuylkill for 2000 meters (5/26/24). It went down as a world record. I won the Gold Cup – the (solid gold) cup was beautiful and was under strict bond. We drank champagne out of it. I had it a couple of days before it went in the vault. I am the only American athlete to win the gold three times and I could have made it four. Could have gone to California [1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles]; Kelly and I would have won out there. (Costello was the first person to win the gold in the same event – the double scull – at three consecutive Olympics).

Why didn’t you try for four?
I fell in love. I had to get some money together to get married. When you’re an athlete you don’t care.

What work did you do?
I was the leading Ford salesman in Philadelphia.

What made you win?
I shouldn’t say this but, as a competitive sport, rowing is one of the toughest. You’re rowing with all your body. You get a terrific amount of power from your legs. Naturally, your arms. Some people, I guess, they never really get the proper timing, they get discouraged and they stop.

It was a tremendous thrill. In the third Olympic (Amsterdam, 1928), we won as though we owned the canal. Charlie (McIlvaine) and I, weight-wise, were the lightest double. We heard the Canucks were hoping to get us in the finals so I said to Charlie: “When the gun goes off, we’re going up the line like as though we’re rowing 100 yards. We’re never going to be second. When we get out in front we’re going to stay there. That means we’re going to bang it all the way down. So we won the finals by 10 boat lengths. The Canadians were second.”

I fell in love with rowing. The Schuylkill River is one of the outstanding rivers to row on.

*Warm thanks to The Fallser newspaper for allowing HTBS to republish this article, which was first published in The Fallser, August, 2009.

Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 6 - The Poem

Here is part 6 and the final ‘chapter’ of Ben Spock’s letter to Rusty Wailes. I am uncertain if Spock is the actual author of the poem, or if that was someone else in the crew. After the poem, you will find all the previous installments, which form Spock’s 9-page letter.

ON THE OLD SEINE YESTERDAY
The Stars and Strips still swept the sky,
How could the old flag fail?
When far away there came the cry,
“Costello and Kelly and Yale!”

There came the dip of mighty oars,
And then with conquering hail
The shout goes up from well-lined shores,
“Costello and Kelly and Yale!”

When great Olympic heroes meet
To find the Holy Grail,
Let all the booming sagas greet
Costello and Kelly and Yale.

See also:
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 1 – Prelude”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 2 – Comparisons”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 3 – The Trials”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 4 – In France”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 5 – The Race”

Ben Spock’s letter is posted on HTBS with the permission of the NRF, which is the owner of the letter. Thank you NRF for making this letter available to the HTBS’s readers!

Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 5 - The Race

Here follows part 5 of Ben Spock’s letter to Rusty Wailes, from one ‘7’ to another. Spock, seven-seat in the Yale’s eight which took a gold medal at the Olympic rowing regatta in Paris, wrote to Wailes, the seven-seat man in the Yale crew, who was on their way to the Olympic of 1956. The bold text parts are Spock’s text, while the italicized text parts are my comments.

12. Race – The actual place for the race was some miles away from where we practiced. It was a very hot spell of weather in Paris that year and where the race was rowed the sewers emptied out and it was unpleasant. The other countries represented were Canada (whom we beat in the first heat and then qualified for the finals), Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, Spain, France and Australia. At the time of the first heat we had good weather and established what was then a new Olympic record, the 5:51 and rowed part of the race at 29. On the day of the finals there was a hard headwind and our time was somewhat slower. The U.S.A. won the rowing events with a score of 33 and Switzerland was second with a score of 32. Among those participating in the race were Jack Kelly in the singles and Kelly and [his cousin Paul] Costello in the doubles. [Thereby, Kelly and Costello repeated their Olympic victory in the doubles from 1920; see below.]

13. General – Due to our separate locations we really had no chance to see anything of those from other countries. The French were annoyed because they asked us down for a champagne party two days before the race and we refused. For the three days that we were staying outside the stadium we had some interesting times. On one of the hottest days I can remember I saw Nurmi, the Finn [Paavo Nurmi was called 'the Flying Finn'], establish two world’s records in the 1,500 and 5,000 meter races within twenty-five minutes of each other. It was very interesting to watch the training for the various events. There was much more newspaper publicity over rowing than there is today. Both the New York Times and Herald-Tribune carried front page articles – and some poetry.

14. Schedules – We had quite a hectic time meeting the Olympic trials and we lost out on the trip with the Olympic teams and our training in Europe was very much like a continuation of Gales Ferry. On the other hand, the timing insofar as the actual Olympics was concerned worked out superbly with just the right amount of rest and change on the boat and just the right amount of time in Europe. While it had made a long season it was all concentrated and then over with. We were an extremely congenial group and although we broke up into various sized units there had been no difficulty whatever. For those of us who were seniors it had been a wonderful climax to college rowing because our sophomore year the Yale varsity was unquestionably the second slowest varsity eight in the east, the slowest being Harvard. Your difficulties of the long summer layoff and the interference with your plans for this year are very substantial. Your financing I am sure will be easier and fairer. I am sure the long summer layoff will be a difficulty. It is probably one which some of the European crews will not have faced.

15. Speed – Undoubtedly, there have been crews in the intervening 32 years which were faster than ours. This, however, cannot be proven. I must admit that our competition was not as keen in 1924 as it was in some subsequent Olympic years. In this intervening time there have been no substantial improvements in shell design, oars, riggers (except in rough water), etc. Unless my memory plays me false, this year’s Cornell crew had a style very much like ours and, of course, they showed themselves to be pretty competition on occasion. Having seen your crew a week ago, however, it does not disturb me in the least to say that you must be a faster crew. This enters the realm of axiomatic argument. You may not have 32 years at your disposal before you have to admit the same but I would think you would have a good many years when you could all secretly think it.

Let me urge all of you to extent that time permits to make a hobby of rowing.

See also:
"Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 1 - Prelude"
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 2 – Comparisons”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 3 – The Trials”
“Ben Spock On 1924 Olympic Eight: Part 4 – In France”

Spock’s letter is posted on HTBS with the permission of the NRF, which is the owner of the letter! Ben Spock’s letter, Part 6, will continue tomorrow with the final part, a poem, “On the Old Seine Yesterday”.