Little Rhody Aquatic Club History

      The Little Rhody Aquatic Club, originally named the Brown Swim Club, was created by the Brown University Swimming Coach Ed Reed, in 1973. Not long before, Brown had completed the construction of its multimillion dollar natatorium, the Smith Swimming Center. Coach Reed’s goal was to develop an AAU swimming program that would like the new swimming facility, gain national recognition. The road to the goal was long and arduous, but progress was steady and ultimately led to LRAC athletes competing at US Nationals and Junior Nationals.

      In the summer of 1974 the Brown Swim Club won its first meet of any kind, the New England Long Course Championships. That summer, the club also had its first Senior National qualifier, Rich Burrows of Cranston, RI. He competed in both the 200 butterfly and 200 IM in Concord, CA. After that initial success, the club managed to win the New England Senior Championships in both Long Course and Short Course, and sent many other individuals to Nationals over the years.

      In April of 1979, East Providence native Peter Solomon became the Junior National Championship in the 200 Backstroke, establishing a meet record. In August of that year, at Long Course Nationals, Peter became the first RI native in twenty years to qualify for the Olympic Trials, making the standard at the Senior National Meet.

      In 1987, Sarah Perroni, Bristol native and member of the decorated Perroni swimming family, became LRAC's first Female National Champion when she won the 100 Meter Freestyle at Long Course Junior Nationals in Orlando, FL. Sarah went on to swim for North Carolina and became a member of the United States National Team.

      Over the years, while striving for and achieving success on the Senior National level has been and continues to be a goal, the club’s focus has not been completely on senior swimming. From the start, Coach Reed focused on the success of the Age Group team in local and regional competitions. In December, 1975, the club expanded its base program when it began a program at Warwick’s McDermott Pool. Over the years, along with the growth and increased numbers participating, came team success at the local, state and regional level. In fact, many of the State’s all-time top swimmers began their careers at the Warwick pool.

      In February 1979, The City of Warwick’s Parks and Recreation Department became an associate of the Brown Swim Club and the Club’s name was changed to the Warwick-Brown Swim Club. At the conclusion of the summer long course season in 1979, a major reorganization of the Club occurred. Although still working with the Warwick Recreation Department, it was deemed appropriate to rename the club, and the Little Rhody Aquatic Club began to write its long history.

      Little Rhody would dominate Rhode Island Swimming for many years. Throughout the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, the Little Rhody Aquatic Club produced the majority of Rhode Island’s State and New England Champions, as well as Junior and Senior National qualifiers.

      Administrative and coaching changes occurred at Brown in the early 1990’s which had an impact on the Club swimming team. Little Rhody went out of business, and new swim clubs were formed at Brown.

      In September 2006, one of the original coaches of the club, John O’Neill returned to RI from New York, after coaching for 5 years at the United States Military Academy at West Point. A long time coach and athlete in Rhode Island, John looked to form a swim club at its new home, Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. Important support and help came from Coach Katie Cameron and Associate Athletic Director John Ruppert at Bryant, and the Little Rhody Aquatic Club returned to the Rhode Island Swimming scene under the direction of Head Coach John O’Neill.

      Coach O'Neill retuned to Providence College in January 2007 in an Administrative roll and in the spring of 2007, assumed the duties of Aquatics Director. The coaching chance at Providence impacted the club Coach O'Neill had formed during the 1990's, the Providence Aquatic Club and the club team became of the home of the Little Rhody Aquatic Club.

      In June 2007, Coach O'Neill was named Head Coach of the Friars. The Club, now swimming out of both Providence College and Bryant University, grew quickly in a few short months from 15 to over 90 swimmers from around the state. Camp and Masters groups continue to grow and the LRAC Staff continued its efforts to welcome athletes to its programs.