Hank Swasey

Biographical details
Born	(1893-04-25)April 25, 1893 South Berwick, Maine, USA
Died	June 1, 1980(1980-06-01) (aged 87) Biddeford, Maine, USA
Alma mater	Amherst College
Playing career
Baseball
1912–1915	Amherst
Football
1912–1914	Amherst
Position(s)	Center Fielder, Left End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Baseball
1922–1962	New Hampshire
Soccer
1924–1927	New Hampshire
Ice Hockey
1924–1925	New Hampshire
Head coaching record
Overall	248–273–1 (.476) [baseball]
Tournaments	1–2

Henry Cleveland "Hank" Swasey was an American athlete and coach. He played both baseball and football at Amherst College and coached at the University of New Hampshire for 41 years. he was induced into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1968.^[1]

Born and raised in South Berwick, Maine, Hank Swasey graduated from Berwick Academy in 1911. That fall he began attending Amherst College and joined the school's baseball team as a freshman. At the beginning of his sophomore year he also joined the football team, eventually become the starting Left End. During his senior season, he was captain of the baseball team, graduating in the spring of 1915.^[2]

After earning a degree in physical education, Swasey remained at school for a year on a fellowship before becoming an instructor at Fessenden School. After a year on the job, he left for a similar position at Adelphia Academy in Brooklyn. He remained in that position for 1 year before returning to the college ranks as an instructor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.^[3]

In 1921, he was hired by the New Hampshire College as an assistant professor of physical education as well as the school's head baseball coach. Early on, Swasey was also in charge of intramural athletics and in that capacity he founded two new varsity programs for the school.^[4] In 1924, the newly renamed University of New Hampshire began sponsoring men's soccer Swasey would helm the nascent program for four year before it was shuttered and didn't return to varsity status until the mid-1960s.^[5] Later in '24, The school also founded an ice hockey program. While that club remained active afterwards, Swasey would only helm the hockey team for its inaugural year.^[6]

Baseball, however, was Swasey calling and he led the program for 41 years, pausing only briefly due to World War II.^{[citation needed]} In 1956, Swasey led the Wildcats to the College World Series, the first of two appearances in program history. He retired as an associate professor in 1962 and was inducted into the ABCA Hall of fame a few years later.^[7]