As a competitive rower in his youth, he rowed eight man shells for the University of Pennsylvania, and won a bronze medal in the coxed fours crew at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

[1] Demonstrating academic achievement in architecture, in June 1924 he received the Historic Ornament Medal for his first semester of that year from the University of Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts.

[1] In that qualifying round, four other members of the Bachelor's Barge Club rowed with Jelenek on Philadelphia's Schuykill River on June 13, 1924.

Rowing on a cool, rainy day, with the river calm, the Bachelor's made a spurt from third place near the end of the race to finish first near Peter's Island.

[4] After their arrival in Paris, the American coxed four team from the Philadelphia area won their heat in the preliminary round with a time of 7 minutes 19 seconds for the 1.24 mile course.

[1] The competition was won by Switzerland, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event, with France taking the Silver medal.

At the time, the broad scope of the project was paralleled only by Seaquarium in Miami, Florida, and Marineland in San Diego.

[14] He died March 9, 1979, in Philadelphia, having most recently resided at the Wellington Apartments at 19th and Walnut, and was survived by his wife Irma, and one son.