Members of Texas’ 1981 national championship team – the first for the school and also\u00a0Eddie Reese’s<\/strong> first – gathered in Atlanta, Ga., this weekend to watch Reese,\u00a0Kris Kubik<\/strong> and the Longhorns go for a 12th. As expected, Texas did earn that win, which tied them with Michigan for the most men’s NCAA titles. Reese broke a tie with Ohio State’s\u00a0Mike Peppe<\/strong> for the most men’s team titles in a career and also tied\u00a0Richard Quick\u00a0<\/strong>for the most overall team titles by a coach. (Quick won 11 women’s titles and one men’s.)<\/p>\n

Swimming World’s<\/em> David Rieder got a chance to catch up with the seven swimmers:\u00a0John Henry<\/strong>,\u00a0Scott Spann<\/strong>,\u00a0Joe Lajoie<\/strong>,\u00a0John Kenny<\/strong>,\u00a0Nick Nevid<\/strong>,\u00a0William Paulus<\/strong> and\u00a0John Smith<\/strong>.\u00a0Sam Kendricks<\/strong>, now the PA announcer for the NCAA championships, was a freshman team manager for\u00a0that team, and he joined his seven former teammates for a reunion during the final night of the meet. The alumni discussed what had changed with the team, school and coaches in the previous 35 years, explained the significance of Reese and Texas winning their 12th championship and also recounted how the tradition of lighting the tower for national championships began.<\/p>\n