athlete

According to Honolulu star-bulletin., February 17, 1916, 3:30 Edition, SPORTS, CLASSIFIED AND SHIPPING SECTION, Page THIRTEEN "DAME RUMOR NAMES - TAD JONES AS COACH" it was "also understood that M. F. Sweeney, an instructor in physical culture at Hill School and a former well known athlete at St Francis Xaviers college, is to be called as a consulting coach." (of the Yale football team).

Yes. Michael F. Sweeney, for 15 years athletic director at Hill School, Pottstown, Pa., was appointed general adviser in all athletics at Yale on Feb. 3, 1916. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D10F6355C13738... This same picture accompanies a biographical sketch on the Hill School site's "Founders Hall of Fame". "Mike Sweeney was hired in 1896 to develop an athletic program that would involve every student, effectively making him the first Athletic Director in school history. His program became well known and was copied by many other schools. Yale University tried to hire him away, but he remained loyal to Hill, though the School did gave him a year off to go and set up a similar program at Yale. When Mike came to The Hill, he was well known for track, as he was the holder of the world record for the running high jump at the time. Many students came to The Hill just to be coached by Mike Sweeney. Also, many nearby track stars would come to The Hill workouts just to gain from Mike's instruction. He developed many athletes who continued running in college and also several Olympic runners. Mike also made a name for himself as a football coach. When Mike Sweeney came to The Hill he knew nothing about football. He studied the game from the time he was hired until the time he began his Hill School career, and it did not take long for him to establish a successful program. In his approximately 15 years of coaching football, seven of his teams finished undefeated, and two of them were un-scored upon. Sweeney Gymnasium was built in his honor while he was still a member of the faculty." www.thehill.org/RelId/1107422/ISvars/default/Page_3.htm

"Zenzo Shimizu (清水 善造 Shimizu Zenzō, 25 March 1891 – 12 April 1977), also spelt Zenzo Shimidzu, was a male tennis player from Japan." " At the 1921 Wimbledon Championships he reached the semifinal which he lost to Manuel Alonso in five sets. He also was a member of Japan's Davis Cup team that finished second to United States in 1921. In 1921 he won the singles title at the Queen's Club Championships by defeating Mohammed Sleem in the final in straight sets. He established the earliest period of Japanese tennis together with Ichiya Kumagae." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenzo_Shimizu

He arrived in New York on the Olympic, s. caption of photo in New-York tribune., July 24, 1921, Page 6, Image 66 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1921-07-24/ed-... and similar photo in the Evening public ledger., July 16, 1921, NIGHT EXTRA, Image 18 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1921-07-16/ed-... (He arrived on July 13, 1921, s. The evening world., July 13, 1921, Wall Street Final Edition, Page 18, col. 7 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1921-07-13/ed-...)

Thanks for the teamwork @artolog and @b-59. I've included his full name (both spellings) and added some information in the notes field.

www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1310445

Hachishiro (sometimes Hachichiro) Mikami (1887-1919), Japanese tennis player who made a splash on the U.S. tennis scene in 1916 with Kumagae. He does not have an English Wikipedia page. Here is his page from Japan Wikipedia: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E7%A5%9E%E5%85%AB%E5%9B%9... An obituary in the January 17, 1920 Literary Digest: "MIKAMI TENNIS AMBASSADOR FROM JAPAN TO THE UNITED STATES With the death of Hachichiro Mikami, the Japanese lawn tennis player who developed and brought out Ishiya Kumagae and later toured America with him, lawn tennis in Japan in the Philippine Islands and in the United States loses one of its best liked and most expert champions. "Hashy" as he was familiarly known by the many friends he made on the courts of this country, succumbed to fever in the Philippine Islands. J.P. Allen writes in the New York Evening Post: "Mikami and Kumagae played considerably in the championships of the Orient at Manila in singles and doubles before they ventured to the United States. At Manila they had met and competed against many of the Americans, chiefly from California, such as Maurice E. McLoughlin, Melville H. Long, Carlton R. Gardner, Clarence J. Griffin and others. Edwin Gee the leading figure in the lawn tennis world of Manila believed that the two Japanese would add to their laurels by visiting the United States. He prevailed upon them to make the trip in 1916. [...] The playing of the two, Mikami and Kumagae, furnished one of the features of the season of 1916. Coming to this country direct from Japan, they first competed in tournaments on Pacific coast. Then they journeyed eastward on the way in the sectional doubles at St Louis. It was there that they began to display their real form which became interesting as Kumagae began to bowl over some of the stars in singles in matches later on in the East." books.google.com/books?id=5LI5AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA120&a... Some Mikami photos elsewhere online from LOC: memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/cdn:@field(SUBJ+@od1(Mikami,+Hachishiro+))

Art Siegel: Thanks for the information about Mikami. We will be sure to include some of it next time we update.