Meet the Member: Caryn Swobe
Where are you from and what brought you to the Reno/Tahoe area?
I was born in Reno and am a 5th generation Nevadan.
How long have you been a member of WTC?
I have been a member off and on for about 50 years, as long as I have played tennis. Carol Tretten says I am the only player who was a junior and senior member.
What WTC or USTA activities do you participate in?
I just started playing leagues again after many years and play bump doubles. I have been hitting on Tuesdays with Don Johnston for many years. We became friends when he moved to town and joined the club about 30 years ago.
What’s your tennis story? How did you get started and what keeps you going?
My Uncle Jack was a big tennis player. He encouraged my mom to put me in City of Reno lessons at Wingfield Park. He also was friends with a man, Dr. Louie Cap, who was a nuclear physicist and Czech Davis Cup player. Louie defected from communist Czechoslovakia. Martina Navratilova did the same a few years later. He worked for Dennis Van Der Meer and Billie Jean King when they opened a Tennis America Club at Incline. Louie managed the facility and was kind enough to teach City of Carson public lessons at Mills Park one summer. My Mom drove my sister and me down to Carson in the summer. I have decent strokes because of Louie.
When I wandered down to Washoe at the age of 13, a group of old timers invited me to play. Tilly Botti, who is recognized on Court 3, hit with me for an hour every day in the summer for years. He was a World War II vet who owned the Zanzibar, grew a large garden by the backboard (Ray is now the keeper), and unofficially volunteered to run the courts by virtue of his daily presence and warm welcomes to new and old players. He forged the original private/partner with Washoe County that we enjoy today.
Later, there was a tennis boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The Reno Tennis Club had a couple hundred members, very competitive club championships, the Nevada State Open and a popular NorCal seniors tournament over July 4th, during which I worked the snack bar. We had huge barbecues and sat on the large golf course hill in the parking lot when it was covered with grass to conduct business at our annual meeting. It was a great community.
I taught tennis for the City of Reno with people who are still my friends for five summers while in high school and college. We had five sites and several hundred students each summer from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Best job ever!! I also played for Reno High but decided against playing in college.
I have taken extended breaks from tennis over the years with the longest spell occurring while I ran some marathons. I have had great tennis memories such as taking a lesson with Chris Evert at her academy in Florida. She changed my forehand and it was an absolute thrill to meet and play tennis with my idol. I also was honored to spend the better part of a day with Arthur Ashe at Lake Tahoe. He was an incredible man.
I love playing, watching and traveling to Indian Wells, the US Open, etc. Tennis has changed and shaped my life, adding a dimension that is hard to describe. I have made life-long friends.
What are your tennis goals for 2025?
To play with the new friends I have met over the last few years and work to regain some of my old level.
What is another favorite hobby other than tennis?
I love to travel and am relearning Spanish. I take classes at UNR and have taken a couple of immersion trips to Mexico City and Oaxaca.
Would you like to share anything about your family, occupation, pets?
I am a director of the Dorothy Lemelson Foundation and have a daughter, Clara.
Any fun plans for the upcoming summer season?
My daughter and I just visited Europe to see the tulips in Holland, so that was the big trip this year. Staying home this summer and playing tennis
Any other fun information you would like to share about yourself?
I have countless, wonderful memories playing tennis at Washoe. Hopefully, they will keep coming for many more years.
