The godfather of Division III water polo, Edward “Ted” Bresnahan coached 27 seasons of the sport at Johns Hopkins University prior to retiring in December 2018.

Bresnahan coached the Blue Jays for all but three of the program’s varsity seasons. He took over as the program’s fourth head coach in 1991 and turned Hopkins into one of the premier Division III water polo programs in the nation. Bresnahan led JHU to a 414-389 (.515) record, while competing primarily against Division I competition, and he became the fifth head coach in Johns Hopkins’ athletics history to reach 400 wins.

Bresnahan coached 65 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selections, including 31 first team selections, a record five national Players of the Year and five College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America honorees.

JHU produced at least one All-America recipient in every season since 1996. In addition, two of his players have been inducted into the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame. Bresnahan led the Blue Jays to a record 17 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championships and six times Hopkins has been ranked number one in the nation in the season’s final poll. He was named the ACWPC Division III National Coach of the Year in 2005, 2008 and 2015.

Arguably his greatest achievement was competing against Division I programs at a highly academic Division III team without the benefit of scholarships.  In 2015, he guided the Blue Jays to the title game of the CWPA Championship hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with first round and semifinal defeats of St. Francis Brooklyn College (7-6 W) and Brown University (8-7 W) prior to dropping another one-goal game to Princeton University (7-6 L) for the league title.  It marked the first and only time a Division III program has reached the title game of a Division I athletic conference in the history of modern intercollegiate athletics.  For his effort, Bresnahan was recognized with the Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament award – the only Division III head coach to earn the accolade.

Bresnahan continues to give back to the sport as an official calling Florida High School, collegiate club and other competitions in the Sunshine State.

Ted Bresnahan coaching Johns Hopkins University (circa 1995)

CWPA Hall of Fame members Ted Bresnahan & Aaron Recko