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ALUMNI STORIES: TIM HARVEY

TIM HARVEY

Perhaps the best aquatics athlete to ever come out of Fullerton College, Tim Harvey dominated community college aquatics from 1972-1974. A local kid out of Sunny Hills High, Harvey helped the Lancer water polo team to a CIF Championship earning All-CIF honors along the way. Wrapping up his senior year with the swim team in the spring of 1972, Harvey raced his way to a 500 yard Freestyle championship.

Fullerton College Coach Ernie Polte recruited Tim to play for the Hornet water polo team in the fall of 1972. It was a great fit as Harvey led the team to a conference championship and a state runner-up finish falling to Orange Coast College in three overtimes and sudden death at Rio Hondo College. Later that spring, Harvey joined the FJC swim team winning every race he was entered. He won the South Coast Conference, Southern California, and State championships in the 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle. Tim swam the 200yd, 500yd, 1000yd, and the 1650yd freestyle setting records at FJC and the conference in every event he swam in. The FJC records still stand today. He was also an important piece to the 800yd freestyle relay team serving as the anchor.

Harvey led the 1973 Hornet water polo team to a conference championship and a state championship going 15-1 on the season. The team had to get by some dangerous teams in Golden West and Long Beach City College. The lone loss on the season came from a Division 1 powerhouse in UC Irvine. Harvey and Bruce Freund were the team co-captains and had played together all throughout high school at Sunny Hills.

In the spring of 1974, the Hornet swim team won a conference championship with Tim winning conference titles in 500yd freestyle and the 1650yd freestyle. Setting more records at FJC, the South Coast Conference, and the Southern California Regionals, Harvey managed to break the record in the 1650yd freestyle at the state championships en route to winning another state title.

UC Berkeley was Harvey’s next destination where he played water polo under Pete Cutino and swam for Nort Thornton. Tim finished 6th in the NCAA Championship Final in 1975.

Tim is now a recognized professional photographer and has taught at the UC San Francisco School of Art. He also works as a state of California professional ocean lifeguard. A complete waterman, Harvey swims, surfs, paddles surf skis, and rows dories. Tim won the National Lifeguard Surf Race in 1980 and then again in 1981. In 1982, he won the American Iron Man Title at the National Lifeguard Championships beating out over 3,000 competitors from all over the United States and Australia.