John Potter

John Potter fenced at Yale and competed for the New York Athletic Club. At Yale he won the Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) title in men’s foil for three consecutive years, 1930-32. He lost only one bout during his four years at Yale. In 1930, he was the bronze medalist in men’s foil at the U.S. National Championships. Potter was born in Paris, France, in 1910 to French-American parents and lived for the first 13 years of his life in France, visiting the United States for the first time when he was 13-years-old. He began fencing in Paris in 1924.

After graduating from college Potter worked as an assistant buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue. However, from the second half of the 1950s until his death in 1991, he lived in Bidart near Biarritz in southwestern France, and also had a home in Barcelona, Spain (his wife was born there). Potter helped found a +45 veteran tennis tournament in Biarritz that began in 1973 and was named after him: the Potter Cup. Initially France, Great Britain, Spain and USA participated in it, but eventually more than 20 countries. The Potter Cup was held in Biarritz from 1973 to 1979, and from 1980 to the present in Barcelona.