| Duane Swanson | |
| Position: | Guard / forward |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 1 |
| Weight Lb: | 185 |
| Birth Date: | 23 August 1913 |
| Birth Place: | Waterman, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee, U.S. |
| High School: | Waterman (Waterman, Illinois) |
| Years1: | 1933–1934 |
| Team1: | Columbia Studios |
| Years2: | 1934–1935 |
| Team2: | Joe E. Brown All-Stars |
| Years3: | 1935–1937 |
| Team3: | Universal Studios |
| Years4: | 1937–1939 |
| Team4: | MGM |
| Years5: | 1940 |
| Team5: | Sheboygan Red Skins |
Duane Alexander Swanson (August 23, 1913 – September 13, 2000) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal. He also played professionally: In eleven games during the 1939–40 National Basketball League (NBL) season, he averaged 1.2 points per game for the Sheboygan Red Skins.[1] Duane Swanson's first name is often incorrectly attributed to be "George."[1] [2] [3]
Swanson grew up in Waterman, Illinois and attended Illinois Wesleyan University for a brief time before transferring to the University of Iowa.[3] He played on Iowa's freshman basketball team when he and a friend decided to drop out of school and hitchhike to Los Angeles, California to enroll at the University of Southern California (USC).[3] Iowa head coach Rollie Williams accused USC head coach Sam Barry of luring both players to California, which Barry denied.[2] Consequently, Barry rejected Swanson and his friend from playing for USC.[3] Instead, they signed a contract to play for Columbia Studios' team, which led to their first connections in the Hollywood industry.[3] In 1934, Swanson signed with Joe E. Brown's All-Stars team, whom he spent the 1934–35 season competing for.[2] In spring 1935, he played on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-Star team that toured Japan, playing in 15 games.[3]
In 1935–36, Swanson played for Universal Studios' basketball team.[2] This squad finished second in the national AAU tournament and first in the Olympic Trials, winning the right to represent the United States at the Berlin Olympics.[3] He ended up playing in three games during the Olympics and won a gold medal.[2]
Upon returning to the United States, Swanson stayed in Los Angeles a few more years competing for studio teams before returning to the Midwest in 1940.[3] He signed with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins to finish out the season, appearing in eleven games.[1] [3] This stint would be his last as a professional basketball.[3] Swanson returned to Southern California and after serving in the United States Army during World War II, spent the next 25 years working in the entertainment industry.[3] [4]