Bob Hanke arrived from Mooseheart, Illinois in January of 1936 to start a swimming program. Mooseheart’s motto was “Enter to learn, leave to serve”. Hanke took that to heart. Wauwatosa High School didn’t have a pool at the time so the new coach had to convince students the mile and half walk to the pool at Hawthorne Junior High was worth it. He did. Conference rival Shorewood was Wisconsin’s #1 swimming powerhouse at the time and routinely had 100 students try out for their team. Due to the long walk, Hanke had only 35 students try out. Those 35 learned rapidly under Hanke’s tutelage and two years after starting the program the swim team was crowned state champion defeating Shorewood. The Greyhounds regained the crown and followed up the next two years with state titles as Wauwatosa finished second. The Red Raiders regained the state title in 1944 which started a run of five of the next six state titles prior to Coach Hanke’s resignation in 1949. Part motivator, part psychologist, Hanke “learned” and instituted new practice methods. Tuesday time trials were swum alone so the swimmer got used to swimming against the clock and not competitors. At the conclusion of the season, practice continued for a month allowing the team to “cool down” with practices in the form of games to take the tediousness out of them. In 12 years, including the start up season, Coach Hanke’s teams won six state titles and six second place finishes. Hanke’s swimmers won six Suburban Conference titles and finished second six times. His dual meet record was 115 victories against five defeats with none of the losses coming in the last six years of his tenure. Hanke coached 20 swimmers who achieved All-American recognition. Coach Hanke resigned to return to Mooseheart, eventually ending up as the Superintendent of Schools. Bob Hanke had “learned” the lesson well: “Enter to learn, leave to serve.”
