Some athletes train hard for many years to achieve excellence in a particular sport. Other athletes are naturals, like the Harvard water polo team's goalie, Rich Reid.

His career reads like the dream of many non-athletes or retired jocks. Less than a year after picking up the sport, Reid--never a competitive swimmer or varsity athlete--has established himself as the aquamen's starting goaltender, received second team All-New England honors, and gained the confidence of his teammates. They showed that confidence last week by voting him next year's co-captain. No longer on the sidelines, Reid is now known as The Wall.

As usual, there is more than meets the eye in this too-good-to-be-true success story. It hasn't been all glory and roses--there's been some hard work, too.

Last spring, the water polo team knew it had a problem in filling the goal for the coming year. Point man Houston Hall, a stalwart performer for the past three years, asked his roommate Reid to give goaltending a try. The Kirkland House junior had played football, basketball, and tennis in high school, but was, he says, "a jack-of-all-trades and master of none."

Still, Reid agreed to try water polo, which at the time was only a club sport. Starting in late January, he worked with the team and developed a beginner's feel for the game.

"He was very raw when he first came out," coach Steve Pike says, but for lack of anyone else The Wall saw action in a few tournaments.

The aquamen returned in the fall with newly-acquired varsity status and a lingering goalie problem. "The goaltending situation was tenuous at best in the beginning of the season," Pike says. "Rich was by no means our first-string goalie then."

Once back at school, Reid did not take long to win the job. The Alexandria, Va., native credits volunteer assistant coach Peter Lansbury for his rapid success. A graduate student, Lansbury captained the Princeton team from the goal last year and has been working with the three Crimson goalies since the season started.

But more than good coaching accounts for Reid's remarkable progress. "My large (6'4", 210) size allows me to cover a lot of area, and the hand-eye coordination I used in other sports helps me to react quicker to the ball," he says.

Not everything came easy for The Wall. "It was hard to learn to recognize the situation, such as when to expect a shot," Reid says. Being the playmaker for the defense also complicates matters in goal.

Lansbury recalls, "Once early in the season when Rich was yelling at two of our guys to switch positions, the ball sailed past him into the net, but he didn't let that happen again."

Visibility

Episodes like those often try a goalie's confidence. "It's tough goaltending because any mistake I make or letdown I have is much more visible," Reid explains.

As Reid's confidence increased so did the team's. "Because Rich became as proficient as he did the squad developed confidence in him and in themselves," Pike says. The Wall peaked when the team needed him most--at the end of the season. At the New England championships at Blodgett Pool Nov. 8-9, Reid produced eight saves in a 14-5 win over Yale and nine stops in a losing effort to Brown. His performance, which earned him selection to the second team All-New England squad, helped the Crimson to a second-place showing.

"The goal was our prime weakness at the beginning of the season, so Rich's performance at the position played a major role in our success," Pike says.

After playing just one short year, Reid has yet to reach his full potential as a goalie. "Although he reacts well, he still can't anticipate what will happen--which a great goalie does," Pike says.

The aquamen will be counting on their goalie and co-captain next year. With the ten top players returning, the water polo team should better their successes of this fall. Look for The Wall to ensure that the aquamen's opponents come tumbling down.