Sun City's John Schwan earns silver at US Open Pickleball Tournament

John Schwan left Naples with a silver medal, but the tighter story may be what comes next in Sun City. Schwan opened his season at the US Open Pickleball Championships, won three of four bracket matches, and then dropped the gold-medal match 16-14 to Ed Klarman of Naples, Florida, in a finish close enough to swing on a single point.

The result carried extra weight because Schwan was chasing players rated above his own 4.0 level. In the final, Klarman came in as a 4.5-rated opponent, and Schwan said the match could have gone either way. The score backed him up. Schwan also said the silver was not a surprise one-off but the latest step in a strong run at the event, his third time qualifying for the US Open and his third straight year reaching the medal stage after winning gold in each of the previous two years.

The 2026 tournament itself was a major stop on the amateur calendar. The Franklin US Open Pickleball Championships marked its 10th anniversary in April at East Naples Community Park, a venue packed with more than 65 courts and thousands of players. Schwan called it the largest and most prestigious pickleball tournament in the world, and the scale supported that view, with more than 3,700 players from the United States and 53 countries in the field.

What makes Schwan’s run resonate back home is the handoff from competitor to mentor. In Sun City, he will work with four new members in the Sun City Pickleball Club program, helping introduce them to beginner activities and skills. That gives local players something more valuable than a photo from a medal stand: direct access to someone who just tested himself against higher-rated opponents on the sport’s biggest stage.

Schwan’s tournament results also carried measurable value. His DUPR rating climbed from 4.0 to 4.37 after the event, a reminder that the sport now tracks progress with real numbers, not just trophies. USA Pickleball identifies DUPR as the official exclusive rating system for its owned events, and verified match results feed a player’s history and influence event placement. DUPR also changed its algorithm in 2025 to weigh performance versus expectation, which makes Schwan’s jump even more meaningful for an amateur still climbing.

Schwan’s arc has been building for years. In 2024, he was already a Sun City Pickleball Charter Club regular who had spent three years trying to qualify for nationals. Now the silver medal, the rating bump and the new mentoring role all point in the same direction: a veteran player staying competitive, and helping the next wave do the same.