The UMass men’s and women’s water polo program, originally formed in1973 by Bill McCafferty, held their first ever 1970s-era team reunion on May 9th at John Harvard’s in Cambridge, MA. Over 20 former players attended including current UMass Aquatics Director and Men’s Head Swim Team Coach Russ Yarworth and special guest, Ed Reed, the former Head Coach from Brown University and longtime NCAA water polo leader. Other attendees included Ron Boucher, Stu Carlisle, Alix (DenHartog) Caufield, Meegan (Primevera) Colley, Bob and Doug Corb, George Collias, Joe Hebert, Mary Kowalski, Chris and Duncan Lomas, Henry and Peter MacLean, Ric Notini, Becca Reggio, Bill Tharion, Jane Welzel, Dave Young, and Kathy Zaffino, Thanks to Facebook and Linked In, the whereabouts of 80% of all players were located. Traveling the furthest to attend were Ric Notini and Bob Corb (along with the 1978 NEWPA Championship Game Ball!) from California and Jane Welzel from Colorado.

Highlights of the reunion included the viewing of a treasure trove of digitally enhanced Kodachrome color slides taken by Ric Notini back in the 70s, a compilation by Bill Tharion of water polo news clippings from the Daily Collegian, and a digitally remastered black and white film, of the Men’s team playing Trinity College at Boyden in 1978 kept in safe keeping by Bill Tharion for 36 years, set to music of the late 70s, and enhanced with special effects editing by Henry MacLean.

Topping everything off, Joe Hebert produced and distributed an exact replica of the team’s 1978 t-shirt inscribed on the back with the famous Massachusetts Cape Cod Arm holding a water polo ball.

Finally, Ric Notini and Bill Tharion, former goalies and slow swimmers back in their playing days, challenged the reunion attendees to train and compete in the upcoming Boston Harbor Shark fest 1.5 k swim on September 21^st and offered to contribute $100 to the Boston One Fund for each and every swimmer from the 1975-80 era who finish ahead of them.

If you played water polo (both men and women) for UMASS in the 1970s and did not know about this reunion, please send an e-mail to Bill Tharion at btharion@gmail.com for possible future reunions and get-togethers.

On Friday, May 10th, UMass Water Polo players from the original club program which thrived in the 1970′s and 80′s met at John Harvard’s in Boston for the first time in decades! This coed team began the UMass Water Polo legacy and dominated New England and East coast tournaments. Lifelong friendships were established and have been kept up over the years.

Pictured above are (top row, left to right) Chris Lomas, Russ Yarworth, Becca Reggio, Ron Boucher, Duncan Lomas, Bill Tharion, Henry MacLean, Meeghan Primavera, Alix Denhartog, Stew Carlisle, (bottom row, left to right) Doug Corb, Peter MacLean, Jane Welzel, Kathy Zaffino, Joe Hebert, Ric Notini. Also in attendance but not pictured Mary Kowalski,  Dave Young, Bob Corb, George Collias, and former Brown Coach Ed Reed.

On May 4th and 5th we were pleased to see a large number of our alumni come back to Amherst for our annual reunion on Friday, May 4 and Saturday May 5.

The weekend began with a cocktail party hosted by Russ and Sue Yarworth, with more than 30 alumni spanning 37 years (class years 1976-2013).  Jeremy Dam traveled the furthest (Hawaii). Juan Moliere (Puerto Rico) and Scott Peterson (San Diego) also traveled far to celebrate UMass Men’s Aquatics.

Joe Hebert (1976) and Russ Yarworth (1978) were here representing the seventies. Howie Abramson (1983), who was on this coach’s first UMass team, was also here. The youngest alumni  were Joey Sbordon & Kyle Jennings from the class of 2013.

Throughout the evening, we spoke about the  continuing need to sustain and build support for UMass Swimming and Diving.  Katie Crowe-Wood from Athletic Development and Joan Hopkins, Associate Athletic Director, were here and spoke to the group about UMass athletics and fundraising for our program.  Many alumni pledged or donated to the program during the evening, which was a really nice indication of how our alumni are participating as we move into the new fiscal year!

Men’s and Women’s alumni and friends gathered later at The Harp on Friday. On Saturday morning a small but determined group of golfers played the Mill Valley course.  Each group claimed victory in the ‘best ball’ format. On Saturday afternoon Brian Stahl (Water Polo – 1999) hosted a great reception at his bar Stackers.  A large group gathered to share college stories, show pictures of their families, and talk about the past and future of UMass Swimming.

We have attached a list of people who have donated during the last 13 months.  Many thanks to those of you who have already contributed.  Please use the attached pledge sheet or go to this link if you wish to be involved.  I encourage people to choose the option to donate monthly, as it is a great way to support us without having to worry about one big check.

I’d like to personally thank to everyone who was involved in making this year’s reunion fun and successful!  –Russ

April 29, 2013

Hi Folks,

In less than a week, many of you will be heading back to the happy valley for Alumni weekend (May 3-4). We have all become used to the succession of New England and Atlantic Ten Conference Championships that Russ Yarworth and his young crew at UMass achieve year after year for well over two decades. They achieve these championships on a shoestring encumbered by rising operational costs. As you prepare constitutions (and livers) for the revelry and reunion please consider advancing your financial support for the program.

Recently, I was talking with Russ about the program and why it seems like so much more to run than back in the day. Russ schooled me on the changes that wave set in over the last 20+ years. It turns out that running a collegiate swimming and diving team these days is not cheap.

For instance, in the late eighties and early nineties, goggles were about eight bucks whereas these days they run $15 to $30. When we were frolicking in the phlegm infested waters of Boyden a banana hammock ran about 25 bucks but today the modern versions cost as much as $128! I don’t know, maybe it’s the shark foreskin and elven thread they are sewn from.

When we were in school, we would load up vans, drive to the meet, swim/dive and drive back. Well, today the team competes in more tri and invitational meets that involve multiple days away with hotel and more food expenses. Due to liability risks, the team cannot use vans but instead must travel via buses. Those buses cost much more money to rent. Back in our day, in order to run a swim meet you would need about $200 and a box of donuts. Nowadays meet format changes have expanded costs by an additional $20,000 per year!

The University continues to support Men’s Swimming and Diving with adequate funding because it is a perennial success story in the pool and in the classroom. Budgets that are “adequate” allow programs to subsist but we all know that this team needs and deserves more than what it is currently receiving.

Here’s the deal. We, as a family of alumni, need to increase the percentage of us actively providing financial support to the program. Many of you already contribute annually to the program. Thank You. However, other alums may consider ramping up their commitment. Let’s encourage each other to step up our support across the board. The program ran at a $15,000 deficit this year that we alumni should attempt to alleviate.

To the guys we swam with…It is no secret that many of us would not have made it through UMass without the support of Russ and our involvement with the team. Now it is time to give back, we are both going to donate to get the ball rolling. Please consider what you can do to support Russ and the team.

Here are some avenues to action…

*          Scratch out a check and send it to…131 Commonwealth Ave, Amherst, MA 01003

*          Go on line to…Donate Now

*          Give Russ a call… (413) 545-0093

Your Teammates, John “Chico” Gardner & GT Ladd

Things are looking good for a great weekend in Amherst. A number of people have responded that they will be at the cocktail party at the Yarworth’s house on Friday night and we’ve got a solid group showing up to golf.
We’d love to know that you’ll be here! If you haven’t responded regarding attending either event, you can email Russ regarding the cocktail party and email AJ regarding the golf. The schedule for the reunion is listed further down on this blog. Hope to see you all here!!