WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB
January 27, 2011
University of Texas men’s coach Eddie Reese, one of the most distinguished coaches in swimming, was back on the pool deck watching his swimmers train after undergoing heart surgery.
Reese, 69, underwent emergency surgery in an Austin hospital last week to clear a blockage. He had three stents inserted into the affected artery that was 99.9 percent blocked.
The surgery was done by cardiologist Dr. Paul Tucker, father of Samantha Tucker, a member of the Longhorns’ women’s team.
Reese told friends he felt symptoms while walking uphill to the Erwin Center to watch a basketball game between Texas and Texas A&M. He was short of breath and started feeling shooting pains in his arm and decided to get checked out by doctors.
The Daytona Beach-born Reese, who has coached at Texas for 33 years and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2002, exercises regularly but has a family history of heart disease.
For the next few weeks Reese’s activity will be limited.
“I’m fixed,” Reese said. “It’s like that country song, I’m not afraid of dying, but I don’t want to do it today.”
Reese, a University of Florida graduate who has coached swimmers at three Olympic Games and has had teams win NCAA titles in four decades including 2010, is expected to be fully-recovered for his head coaching stint of the U.S. national team for this summer’s FINA World Championships in Shanghai.
Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex Grandstand Shut Down
YMCA officials learned that city engineers for the City of Fort Lauderdale recommended “the closure of the entire grandstand seating area” at Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex.
YMCA is scheduled to hold the YMCA Short Course Nationals at the complex on April 5-8.
According to its website, YMCA officials will meet with several local officials to try and reconfigure the seating that lost 1,500 seats to the closure or may look for alternate event locations.
An on-site visit is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
Florida Senior Games Qualifying This Weekend
The Delray Beach Senior Games opens the 2011 calendar of local Senior Games qualifying events, including swimming, this weekend in South Florida.
Eleven local senior games events will be held between this weekend and March.
Swimming is still open for registration according to meet officials. Both Delray Beach residents and non-residents are eligible to compete. Athletes ages 50 and over who finish in the top five of their age group will qualify for the Dec. 3-11 Senior Games State Championships in Polk County.
The only other qualifying site in South Florida is Palm Beach Gardens, March 28-April 8. For information on the Delray Beach event call 1-561-243-7277.
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
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