NOVATO, Calif. — Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member/former Brown University men’s swimming and water polo coach/former University of Alabama Aquatics Director, swim coach, collegiate club water polo coach/CWPA, Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Coordinator of Officials Ed Reed has been recognized as among the best in league history in the sport of water polo – but he can now add the title of best in the world as the native of Northport, Alabama, was part of five world record relays at the 2023 Pacific Masters Swimming Long Course Championship on Friday-Sunday, July 21-23.
Competing at Indian Valley College’s Miwok Aquatics Center in Novato, Calif., the octogenarian quartet of Richard Burns, Peter Andersen, Tony Ralphs and Reed erased with prejudice the men’s 320-359 (i.e,, 80-89 year old) men’s 200 meter freestyle, 400 meter freestyle, 800 meter freestyle, 200 meter medley and 400 meter medley long course relay records.
The Tamalpais (Calif.) Aquatic Masters quartet began their assault on the record book on Friday, July 21, in the 800 meter freestyle relay as Burns, Andersen, Reed and Ralphs finished in 11:38.85. The team reset the age-group United States and World record of 13:00.32 established by the Michigan Masters on July 30, 2017 by 1:21.47. Reed swam leg three of the relay and recorded splits of 1:27.17 and 1:28.20.
On Saturday, July 22, a trio of marks fell in the squad’s first event as Burns, Andersen, Reed and Ralphs finished the 400 meter freestyle relay in a time of 5:05.88 to overwhelm the Tuolumne County Aquatic Masters (TCAM) team (6:25.96) and erase the prior World (5:36.25, EIJII-Japan, March 12, 2023), American (5:43.81, Michigan Masters, July 30, 2017) and Pacific Masters Swimming Championship (7:11.40, AAM, July 1, 2010) marks. Reed again swam the third leg and finished in a time of 1:17.35.
Reed and his cohort capped off the day by taking down the 200 meter medley relay World (2:45.04, Toto Dolphin-Japan, October 2, 2022), National (2:56.04, San Diego Swim Masters, August 1, 2018) and Pacific Masters Swimming Championship (3:16.51, AAM, July 1, 2020) marks by finishing in 2:37.00. The time bested the TCAM runner-up time of 3:14.13.
Reed opened the event for his team by swimming the backstroke prior to Andersen (breaststroke), Burns (butterfly) and Ralphs (freestyle) combining to hit the 100-meter mark in 1:27.86 before finishing up the final 100 in 1:09.14.
The senior citizens forcibly turned back the hands of time on Sunday, July 23, for another pair of World, American and Pacific Master Swimming Long Course records.
Racing the 200 meter freestyle, Burns, Andersen, Reed and Ralphs touched the wall in 2:12.73 to eradicate the prior World (2:20.89, Juei Club-Japan, July 21, 2003), National (2:24.56, Oregon Masters, August 19, 2016) and Pacific Masters Swimming Championship (2:59.22, WCM, July 6, 2015) and make the all-time best performance their own. Burns and Andersen went through the first 100 in a time of 1:06.26 prior to Reed and Ralphs wrapping up the record performance with a backend time of 1:06.47.
With four World and American records clinched, the quartet saved their best for last to seize their fifth record performance in the 400 meter medley relay.
In the men’s finale of the three-day, 52 event weekend, Reed, Andersen, Burns and Ralphs touched the wall in 6:14.23 to obliterate the previous World (6:40.23, Torokbalinti Swim Club-Hungary, April 15, 2023) and National (7:01.64, Michigan Masters, July 30, 2017) 400 meter medley relay records.
Reed ignited the record shattering performance by notching a mark of 1:35.19 in the backstroke prior to Andersen (1:40.02, breststroke), Burns (1:41.74, butterfly) and Ralphs (1:17.28, freestyle) following to cap off their fifth World record in as many events.
About Ed Reed: A 2003 inductee to the CWPA Hall of Fame, Ed Reed began his coaching tenure at Brown University in 1971 when he was named head coach of the men’s varsity swim team and club water polo team. In 1974, the men’s water polo team achieved varsity status as he built the program into an East Coast powerhouse.
Reed never experienced a losing season at Brown, compiling a career record of 420-159-5 in 20 years at the helm. In fact, during a nearly five-year span in the 1980’s his Brown squad did not lose a game against an eastern collegiate opponent. He led the Bears to 17-consecutive New England Championships and four Eastern Championships, including three straight from 1983-85, and a record ten Eastern Championship final appearances. Under Reed, the team made eleven NCAA tournament appearances, finishing sixth in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
Under Reed, Brown accomplished a pair of eastern collegiate water polo firsts. The 1984 squad finished the season with a No. 6 ranking in the American Water Polo Coaches’ Association poll, the best ever for a school from the east. The Bears’ 1986 home victory over No. 4-ranked Pepperdine University constituted the first time an east coast school defeated a top five nationally ranked team.
Seventeen student-athletes earned All-America honors while playing for Reed at Brown. He received Eastern Water Polo League Coach of the Year honors in 1987 and 1989. He was inducted into the Rhode Island Aquatic Hall of Fame in 1986, the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996 and the United States Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1999.
He also contributed to the sport on the national level, serving on the coaching staff of the United States Men’s National Water Polo Team from 1993-96. He worked with the 1995 U.S. squad that won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Argentina and was an assistant coach for the seventh-place U.S. team at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. He was also elected President of the American Water Polo Coaches Association and served on several committees for United States Water Polo.
Reed was a two-time All-America as a swimmer at Springfield College, winning the 1965 New England Intercollegiate Championship in the 200 meter individual medley. He started his coaching career at Tufts University in 1966.
He retired in the Spring of 2008 as the Aquatic Center Manager for the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., but continues to give back to the sport of water polo as a referee evaluator as part of the CWPA Technical Committee and as the league’s Coordinator of Officials.
He and his wife Andy reside in Tuscaloosa and have two children, Scott and Kerrie. Scott is the head coach of the Macalester College women’s water polo team, carrying on the family water polo tradition.
L-R: Richard Burns, Tony Ralphs, Pete Andersen, Ed Reed
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