By Kim J. Harmon

Brian Reiff will always remember that day, six years ago, when a young swimmer by the name of Todd Burns first jumped into the water at Newtown High School.

“When he first came in,” he recalls, “we grabbed the big metal hook because we thought he was going to drown.”

But thanks to the enthusiasm and the determination and the desire that coach Reiff seems to bring out so easily in kids, Burns went on to become one of Newtown’s best swimmers and now, while at the University pf New Hampshire, is one of the top swimmers in the ECAC.

Those are the kinds of memories that coach Reiff will take with him now that he has officially resigned as head coach of the Newtown High School boys’ swim team.

In his eight years with the team, from 1992-93 through 1999-2000, coach Reiff compiled an impressive 79-29 record and led the program as high as second place in the South-West Conference. In all that time, there were the wins over hated rival Bunnell (seven wins in eight meetings), that first win over hated rival Weston, the trips to the Wappingers Falls Invitational in New York, and the big trip down to Florida a year ago.

“Those are the things you miss,” said coach Reiff.

While surprising, his resignation was not totally unexpected. With his son, Matt turning 11 and entering middle school and his daughter, Jaime, turning eight he felt it was time to turn his attention back to his family.

But his resignation doesn’t mean that he is stepping away from swimming. On the contrary, coach Reiff wants to continue to focus on helping kids – but his kids and those closest to his home in Brookfield. He hopes to get a middle school team started, to maybe help Brookfield High get its own pool, to do all sorts of things that could help young swimmers in his community.

“I don’t know if anything will come from it,” he admitted, “but I will give it a shot.”

Even though he knew he had to do it, for the sake of his family, it was still a tough decision to finally make.

“I’m am going to miss the kids and the competition,” coach Reiff said. “And it’s a very emotional thing for me to leave that group of kids. It’s an incredible group. Leaving these kids and the high school is tough.”

He will have his memories, though.

. . . memories of swimmers like Christer Rundlof (who went on to become a captain at Georgia Tech), Tony Panigutti, Matt Burns, Sean Martin, Ryan Eberts, and Kane Kunst (now a captain).

. . . memories of the Bunnell kid who missed the turn in that long ago relay (leading to a disqualification and the genesis of the rivalry); of the Newtown swimmer (who will not be named) who jumped off the blocks in his relay and landed on the lane line (leading to his disqualification).

. . . memories of the solidarity his kids showed when they all shaved their heads in support of their teammate, Greg Chion, who was suffering with leukemia.

“I love Newtown,” coach Reiff said, “and I love how everyone embraced me and the swimmers. The thing I most proud about is how the parents were always supportive of me.”

Coach Reiff also spoke of the support of Newtown High principal Bill Manfredonia.

“I’d love to see Brookfield have a program like Newtown,” he said. “I think a lot of that is Bill’s leadership – he values academics and athletics. He’s patient and supportive and he’s been so good to me.”

As difficult as it is to leave Newtown, coach Reiff said, it also will be difficult to start over without his friend and assistant coach Carl Strait. Six years ago, when coach Reiff resigned the first time, it was the appearance of Strait that brought coach Reiff back into the fold.

“Getting re-motivated without Carl is hard for me,” said coach Reiff. “To think of starting again without him . . . it’s hard.”

But coach Reiff will get re-motivated since he – as anyone who knows him will attest – is a master motivator. As the head of a $40 million lumber wholesale supply company, it’s what he does.

He will try and not dwell on his leaving Newtown, either, because as he said, “All good things come to an end.”