Edwin Charles Reese (born July 23, 1941) is an American college and Olympic

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

coach, and a former college swimmer. Reese serves as the head coach of the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

men's swimming and diving team that represents the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. He previously served as the men's head coach for the United States' Olympic Swimming Team in 2004 and 2008, as well as an assistant coach at the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2012 Summer Olympics. He is widely regarded as the greatest swim coach in history.

Early years

Reese was born in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1941. He attended

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer ...

in Daytona Beach and swam for the Mainland Buccaneers high school swim team, winning two state high school championships in the 200-yard individual medley swimming event. He then enrolled in the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he swam for coach Buddy Crone and coach Bill Harlan's

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

teams, leading the Gators to three consecutive

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) team championships (1961, 1962, 1963). As the team's senior co-captain, Reese became the first Florida swimmer to win five SEC individual titles in a single season — the 200-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medleys, the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay. Reese graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1963.

Coaching career

After Reese graduated from Florida, he remained in Gainesville as a graduate assistant coach and earned his master's degree from Florida in 1965. Reese then coached and taught at Roswell High School in Roswell, New Mexico for one year (1965–1966), before returning to the University of Florida as an assistant coach for six seasons (1967–1972). Reese became the head coach of the Auburn Tigers swim team at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama in 1972, leading the Tigers for six seasons (1973–1978). The Tigers were a team that had not qualified a single swimmer for the finals or consolation finals of the SEC championship meet during the previous season. After six seasons, Auburn had produced four consecutive top-ten showings at the NCAA championships, and in his final season at Auburn, the Tigers placed second in the SEC and NCAA championships, the highest finish in program history to that time. In 1978, Reese accepted the head coaching position for the Texas Longhorns men's swimming and diving team of the

in Austin, Texas. Since that time, his Longhorns team have won 15

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) team championships (1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021), and he has been named CSCAA Coach of the Year eight times. Starting with his second year at Texas, his teams have won the conference championship every season (42 in a row as of 2021). Reese has coached numerous current and former world record holders. Some of his notable swimmers include

Ian Crocker Ian Lowell Crocker (born August 31, 1982) is an American former competition swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. During his career, he set world records in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly (long course and short ...

Rick Carey Richard John Carey (born March 13, 1963) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Carey specialized in the backstroke. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, ...

Brendan Hansen Brendan Joseph Hansen (born August 15, 1981) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in breaststroke events. Hansen is a six-time Olympic medalist, and is also a former world record-holder in both the 100-meter and 200-meter ...

, Neil Walker,

Ricky Berens Richard "Ricky" Berens (born April 21, 1988) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4× ...

, Josh Davis, Dave Walters,

Garrett Weber-Gale Garrett Weber-Gale (born August 6, 1985) is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in two events. Early life Weber-Gale is Jewish, and was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He graduated from Nic ...

Eric Shanteau Eric Lee Shanteau (born October 1, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who won two gold medals as a member of winning United States relay teams at the World Championships. He was a member of the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, and ...

, Scott Spann,

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

Jack Conger John "Jack" Peet Conger (born September 26, 1994) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in butterfly and freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio d ...

, Clark Smith,

Townley Haas Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ha ...

Will Licon William Andrew Licon ( ; born August 25, 1994) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and medley events. He currently competes for the professional team LA Current in the International Swimming League. Licon is a ...

Joseph Schooling Joseph Isaac Schooling (born 16 June 1995) is a Singaporean professional swimmer who specialises in butterfly, freestyle and medley events. He was the gold medalist in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, achieving Singapore's first ev ...

, Drew Kibler, Caspar Corbeau, and Carson Foster.

Honors and awards

Reese was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1988, and the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

(ISHOF) as an "Honor Coach" in 2002. His brother, Randy Reese, who is also a university and Olympic swimming coach, was inducted in 2005. Reese is also a member of the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

References

External links

Eddie Reese – University of Texas coach profile at TexasSports.com

* ttp://www.flocasts.org/floswimming/search.php?cx=003556892317167185039%3A536qwfr48fi&cof=FORID%3A11&q=eddie+reese&domain=3&sa=Search Floswimming Video Interviews with Eddie Reese {{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, Eddie 1941 births Living people American Olympic coaches American male breaststroke swimmers American male freestyle swimmers American male medley swimmers American swimming coaches Auburn Tigers swimming coaches Florida Gators men's swimmers Florida Gators swimming coaches Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida Texas Longhorns swimming coaches 20th-century American people

Early years

Coaching career

Honors and awards

See also

References

External links