Author: Kelly Neukom
Although the women’s water polo team lost their first two games of the season versus Cal State East Bay and Cal State Bakersfield two weeks ago, they have rebounded with amazing success, winning their last four games last weekend (against Grove City, Fresno Pacific, Oregon and Chapman). Thanks to recent diligent training sessions and a number of talented first-years, the team expects to continue its winning streak in the future.
“I think we went out our first weekend at Bakersfield with very little practice together under our belt and used it to see what we needed to improve upon and have done just that,” Sara Boehler (junior) said. “I think the addition of our [first-year] class is allowing us to be much more versatile and therefore much more competitive, and I think that was proven in our games at the Chapman Classic.”
But before continuing, a question: What the heck is water polo?
While mention of this sport might cause some to conjure up players riding horses in the middle of a swimming pool, it is actually “a sort of combination of basketball and hockey, but played in water,” Head coach of the women’s water polo team Larry Zubrin said.
Perla Almaraz (first-year) loves that water polo is a combination of multiple sports. “Being able to know how to swim is not enough to play the sport,” she said. The players can’t touch the bottom of the pool and can use only one hand while playing.
“Water polo is not a typical sports fan’s game,” Zubrin said. “It’s really something more appreciated by a competitor than a spectator. Water polo is one of those sports that is both a thinking person’s game as well as a game of athleticism and skill.”
“I love water polo because of the diligence it demands, the physical shape it demands you to be in, the aggressive nature of the sport and that it doesn’t involve gravity . . . gravity and I don’t mesh well together,” Ashley Notti (junior) said.
The players aren’t kidding when they talk about the amount of training it takes to be a water polo player. The team has to train both in and out of the water-weightlifting, running, climbing the stairs of the Greek Bowl multiple times every morning and then swimming thousands of yards on top of that, captain Laura Gardiner (senior) said.
“Having to swim back and forth in the pool with a weight belt on is not exactly easy and it takes a great amount of commitment, focus and energy, which our team luckily has,” Gardiner said.
Zubrin is very much impressed with the amount of dedication his team shows, for which it has been rewarded by the CWPA and NCAA. Now in his fifth year coaching at Oxy, he has already produced 16 CWPA All-Academic award winners and 13 NCAA All-American water polo players (from both the men’s and women’s teams).
“The reason our teams have been so successful is that the water polo players here are extremely committed and work hard,” he said. “They understand that the chance to play water polo at the collegiate level is a huge privilege. There are only 65 women’s varsity teams in the country. (In comparison, there are over 300 women’s basketball teams in NCAA Division III alone.) Very few can actually say they play NCAA Water Polo.
“Our water polo players are part of a very elite group of athletes in this country. They recognize that and work hard to live up to the honor,” Zubrin said.
The players feel that a lot of the team’s success is due to their coach, whom they describe as “caring,” “approachable,” “understanding” and “a fantastic role model.”
“Larry is tough when he needs to be tough, compassionate when he needs to be compassionate and silly most of the rest of the time,” Boehler said. “He also knows when to reward us for our hard work. During our hell month, he decided to cancel practice and take us all bowling instead.”
He is also skilled at recognizing the flaws of Oxy’s opponents and using them to his advantage. “He is able to see weaknesses in other teams and gives us plays to capitalize on those, which works relatively well,” Notti said.
The team can only improve from this point on with the addition of skilled first-year players, their teammates said.
“I really like the fact that we were able to acquire some real talent from our [first-year] class and that already they are proving to add much-needed ability that has helped our play tremendously,” Notti said. “Speed was something we lacked last year, and having the [first-years] come in to compensate for that aspect was really great. I think with the help of Larry and some inside help from the team, the [first-years] are going to be able to quickly gain the skills needed to help the team take SCIAC or Div. III.”
In the end, Boehler said water polo is special because of the amount of camaraderie found within the sport -primarily due to its rarity.
“I love how excited people get when they see a water polo sticker on the back of someone’s car or someone in a public place also wearing a water polo shirt,” she said. “The sport may be small in comparison to football and basketball, but we have a big presence and will continue to make a name for ourselves.”
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