Charlie Swanson is considered Rhode Island’s tennis ambassador. He was ranked among the world’s best senior doubles players. In 1937, he reached the #2 amateur ranking in Rhode Island and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Men’s Singles Tournament at Forest Hills.
He was born on Nov. 2, 1918, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Although Charlie was an outstanding basketball and tennis player for Bryant University, his athletic accomplishments after graduating from Bryant earned him national recognition. After graduation from Bryant in 1935, Charlie spent several years playing both semi-pro basketball and amateur tennis. In 1937, he ranked No. 2 in amateur tennis in New England and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Men’s Singles Tournament at Forest Hills.
By the early 1940s, Charlie Swanson became the head pro at the Agawam Hunt Club. During the 1940s and 1950s, a strict United States Lawn Tennis Association rule prohibited teaching professionals from competing in national championships. This rule sidelined Swanson from major competitive circuits during what would have been his athletic prime. Charlie became one of New England’s leading tennis teachers. His prize pupil was his daughter, Joanne Swanson. She competed nationally in the 1950s and 1960s, carrying on the family’s rich Rhode Island tennis legacy.
Everything changed for Charlie in the 1960s when the Open Era arrived, allowing professionals and amateurs to compete in the same tournament. Charlie handed his tennis school to an assistant and returned to competitive tennis. His body was no longer what it had been in 1937, but he knew where the next ball was going before anyone in the draw did, because he was the one who taught them the shot. Charlie, then in his 50s, returned to the court as a player. He became one of the top senior players in the United States and played on several national senior championship doubles teams.
Upon entering the senior brackets, Swanson established himself as one of the finest doubles players in the world. He and his partner, Ed Avirett, won 16 National Doubles titles and held the New England Senior Doubles Championship for more than a decade. In 1975 and 1976, Swanson and Avirett won the National Clay Court Championships.
Swanson achieved the ultimate tennis milestone in 1978, partnering with Harry Hoffman. The pair swept all four major surfaces, winning the National Clay, Indoor, Grass, and Hard-Court doubles titles. He was selected to represent the United States at the World Senior Championships in Europe at age 73. He remained the New England Senior Doubles Champion for more than a decade.
Achieving the title of “Father of Rhode Island Tennis” is a major accomplishment because of Rhode Island’s rich tennis legacy. The Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, hosted the first United States Lawn Tennis Association Singles Championship in 1881. For 31 years, the tournament continued there before being replaced by the Newport Casino Men’s Singles Invitation Tournament. The Casino became the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame and Tennis Museum. The International Tennis Federation officially recognized it in 1986.
Charlie Swanson was inducted into The Bryant University Sports Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame the same year.
He died on Jan. 25, 2008.