Alumni Spotlight: Avery Reavill
Avery Mclaren Reavill ’12 had a phenomenal athletic career with Big Red, which carried him to Brown University as a student athlete and eventually back to Exeter as coach of the boys’ swimming and diving, water polo and crew teams. Since his return, he has instilled the same level of competitive drive in his players that he msintained as a student at the Academy.
While attending Exeter, Reavill played the same sports he currently coaches—Varsity Water Polo in the fall, Varsity Swimming in the winter and Varsity Crew in the spring. On top of being a tri-varsity athlete, he helped his teams win numerous championships and also captained all three sports.
“Even though [upper] Andrew Benson is picking my records off the board, I still have a couple left,” Reavill said.
Out of all the sports Reavill played, his favorite has been water polo. “Wopo [water polo] had more creativity and freedom: no-look passes, scoring goals, blocking—it’s just more physical,” Reavill said.
However, Reavill felt that swimming was his most successful sport at Exeter. “Even though [upper] Andrew Benson is picking my records off the board, I still have a couple left,” Reavill said.
Reavill’s identical twin, Brooks Reavill, also has his name tiled onto the Roger Nekton Champion Pool’s record board. The twins had a competitive relationship that pushed both of them to work harder. “It doesn’t matter the sport—we were always trying to beat each other,” A. Reavill said. “We were the perfect match on defense [in water polo]. He was the perfect swim and rowing competition to make me go faster.”
“Before Exeter, we would always be on different teams so that we could keep the teams fair, but that changed at Exeter, and playing with Avery is the most fun I’ve ever had,” B. Reavill said.
B. Reavill also praised his brother for focusing on technique more than himself and said “he was constantly telling me what I should be doing to get better. I didn’t always listen but his precision made him very effective in the boat.”
Outside of sports, B. Reavill says that his brother “took his competitive spirit to gaming and spent what little free time he had playing FIFA and C.O.D. with guys in the dorm.”
They both agreed thattheir twin bond gave them an advantage over the other teams. “Our communication was streamlined because we saw the game the same way and could anticipate what the other one was going to do,” B. Reavill said.
When asked what B. Reavill will remember most about playing sports with his brother, he said, “I think his tenacity on defense in water polo is what sticks with me the most. He wanted to block everything, and he usually got a hand on it.”
B. Reavill added, “His opponents would just start passing the ball because they felt that they had no shot when he was across from them. Those dominating defensive performances in polo are what I remember the most.”
Water polo captain Jamie Cassidy ’18 said Reavill, during his first year as coach was attentive to the team’s needs. “The team and I knew that he was coming from the same place we were currently at, fighting for a championship in water polo and swimming,” Cassidy said.
“When he started getting more involved, the team and I started to form a really awesome relationship [with him]. The dude is hilarious and knows what it takes to be a high-end athlete, so I was really grateful for that special kind of coaching. Most teams don’t get that,” Cassidy said.
Taylor Walshe ’18, who was coached by A. Reavill in water polo, swimming and rowing, said that he was thankful to have A. Reavill as his coach because of his “unique coaching skill set.” “He was competing in the pool and rowing on the river not too long ago. He understands his athletes. In regards to standing out, his stature cannot go unnoticed,” Walshe said.
Avery Giles ’18, both a water polo player and swimmer, said that “Avery was a great coach for us last year—he knew our league and opponents well and always could comment on tactics or strategies we could use in upcoming matches.” Giles continued that A. Reavill, being an Exonian himself, “[understood] what the students appeal to and how they take criticism.”
A. Reavill attributes his leadership qualities to two seniors in Peabody Hall while he was a prep: Parker Moody and Adam Logan. He said that he would “always be pestering them with questions about math, maybe a little too much, but they taught me the importance of inclusion that I still hold with me today.”
Giles’s fondest memory of Reavill was just “[chilling] on the pool deck with the boys and spotting Reavill flexing his Brown athletic gear.” Giles wanted to stress that Reavill is “one of the boys.” Giles said. While the team isn’t tapering for hard competition, “you can find Reavill on the basketball court playing with the kids on the team who can put the ball in the hoop.”
Cassidy agreed and added that Reavill “even sat with [the team] at team dinners from time to time. That showed us how involved he was and we share some great memories because of it.”
Walshe emphasized that, behind his high-level coaching experience, but Reavill is also a “behemoth. When you finish a swim set and see him standing over you, it’s both intimidating and motivating. It’s like getting coached by Poseidon himself. Having that kind of size on your bench for water polo also adds a nice psychological component to water polo games.”
Reavill went on to be recruited by Brown University for crew along with his brother. Both showed the same competitive spirit at Brown that they did throughout their four years at Exeter. They were able to climb to the top of the ladder and eventually became captains. A. Reavill finished his scholastic athletic career the same place he started—at Exeter.