Peter Lyman With Alex Gaeta and Bob Swartout

Peter Lyman, the man who built the tennis and squash programs at the University of Rochester into national prominence, passed away on September 28 after a lengthy illness. Lyman coached the men’s tennis team for 42 years and the squash team for 44 years. He was inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. He  was inducted into the Frontier Field Walk of Fame that same year.
 
Under Lyman’s tutelage, the men’s tennis team was represented at the national championships every year – either as a team or on an individual basis – for 22 consecutive years. His tennis teams were ranked in Division III’s Top 30 every year from 1983 to 1997. Five of his teams were ranked in the Top 10, including a best-ever fifth in 1987.
 
He was honored as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Division III National Coach of the Year in 1990.
 
Lyman coached 11 players to a total of 20 All-America honors. He coached one national doubles champion (Bob Swartout and Alex Gaeta), one national singles runner-up (Scott Milener), and one national doubles runner-up (Milener and Bob Hession).
 
He coached the squash team to a consistent Top 20 ranking, including placements of #11, #12, and #13. Lyman coached a total of five athletes – one woman and four men – to a total of nine All-America awards in squash.  In 2000, the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Lyman was a 1947 graduate of the University. In his prime, he was a premier tennis and squash player.
 
Rochester’s outdoor tennis complex and the indoor squash complex were both named in his honor.

Coach Lyman's Obituary

Article Courtesy of University of Rocherster Athletics