Bernard Peter Schwengers (26 May 1880 – 6 December 1946). was a British-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, baseball player, and all-round sportsman. He is considered the finest Canadian tennis player of the early twentieth century and is amongst Canada's tennis greats. He was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...

in 1966 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1973.

Tennis

He won the

Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club is a tennis club located at Granville Park in the upmarket neighborhood of Fairview in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territ ...

single title in 1900 and 1906, and the doubles title in 1906. He won the Pacific Northwest singles championship five consecutive years from 1909 to 1913, was the Quebec Open Singles champion in 1911, and took the Canadian singles title twice in 1911 and 1912. He was also six-time BC Open Champion in singles in 1907, 1908, 1910, and 1914, and in doubles in 1906 and 1907 and seven-times BC Mainland Champion (Western Canadian) in singles in 1900, 1906–1908, 1910, and 1912, and doubles in 1906. In England he was the Middlesex County Open Championship singles winner in 1913 and the All-England Invitational Championship singles winner in 1914. Schwengers was on the 1913 Canadian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team along with

J. F. Foulkes John Fortescue Foulkes (10 July 1872 – 22 June 1948), also known as Captain Foulkes, was an early star of Canadian tennis. Foulkes may have been a three-time winner of the Canadian national championship, today known as the Rogers Cup. He ...

, Robert Powell and

Henry Mayes Henry George Mayes, MBE (14 February 1880 – 1928) was a British-Canadian tennis player, military figure and businessman. He won the Queen's Club Championships in 1922, 1926 and 1927. Biography Born in Northampton, Mayes was educated at No ...

. It was Canada's first entry into the Davis Cup and they reached the final of the cup only to be defeated by the United States in the summer of 1913 at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

where the cup was being held.

Other sports

Schwengers was successful in a wide range of sports, and was a champion rower for JBAA, setting the British Columbian 100-yard sprint record in 1898. He was also an able soccer player and a star pitcher and second baseman for the Victoria team in the old

Pacific Northwest International Baseball League The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region. History Founding The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. I ...

, and once rejected a $8,000 a year contract to play second base for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

in 1902. He was described as being a "terrific hitter" who was able to "play in any position". The

Victoria & District Baseball Association Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

cites Schwengers and Jimmy Holmes as the finest baseball players in Victoria during this period. He later found success as a senior golfer, winning the Pacific Northwest Seniors Golf Championship in 1943. He was inducted into the

in 1966 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwengers, Bernie Canadian male tennis players English emigrants to Canada People from Surrey Sportspeople from Victoria, British Columbia 1880 births 1947 deaths Racket sportspeople from British Columbia