Fun in the pool with Water Polo

Penn's women play in the spring, the men in the fall. Both clubs enjoy their time in the water at Sheerr Pool. This past weekend, the Penn women's water polo club traveled to Villanova to play in the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships, finishing sixth out of seven while playing without roughly half of their team. Spring Fling festivities as well as injuries helped deplete the 16-member squad. Although the tournament ended their season, the Red and Blue will be losing only one starter to graduation and are looking forward to a strong showing next year. "They have a lot of raw talent and should do really well with the talented new freshmen coming in," said volunteer coach Chris Lee, a freshman who plays for the Penn's men's water polo club. The men compete during the fall, making it easy for the two clubs to help each other out. Similar to Lee, women's co-captain Liz Greig, a junior, coaches the men's team. Water polo may be growing on college campuses across the nation, but here at Penn it receives little attention, especially when compared to schools with varsity programs. "Water polo, especially women's, is taking off across the country," Greig says. "It's very en vogue." At Penn, both the men's and women's squads operate as club teams even though they compete against many varsity programs. Men's water polo, in fact, was one of the first club sports, having been established in the '70s. The women's team is newer, roughly a decade old. For women's water polo, this season marked the last in which every team competed within the same league regardless of their status. Next year, women's polo will gain recognition as an official NCAA sport, creating a clearer division between the varsity and club programs. Penn will continue as a club team. Men's polo already exists at the NCAA level, and club teams compete within the separate Collegiate Water Polo Association. This year, the Penn women's team was one of two club teams in the Mid-Atlantic Division among the other varsity programs. Princeton and Villanova placed first and second in this weekend's championships and rank among the top 20 teams in the nation. Penn's division record of 2-12 (5-12 overall) reflects this strong competition. The Penn women also compete against other Ivy League teams and non-league opponents. This year's Ivy Championships, however, were canceled because no venue could be secured. In addition to beating West Chester twice, Penn has recorded wins against Cornell, Colgate and Bucknell. In water polo, seven people play at a time -- six "field" players and a goalkeeper. Running the offense is the holeset, situated in front of the goal. The other five players form a semi-circular arc around the holeset. The point is the position at the top of the arc; closer to the goal on either side are the flats/drivers; and finally two wings are nearest to the goal. On the offensive end, players try to shake their defenders and drive to the goal -- even by setting picks. The defensive position that guards the holeset is the two-meter defender. Among other strategies, teams play man-to-man or double-team the holeset. With four seven-minute quarters, the games can be grueling, especially for newcomers to the sport. Regulation pools are 30 meters in length and of course can't be shallow enough to stand in and catch a breath. For the women, light practices begin in November when they have a preseason tournament. Things really pick up, however, after winter break with four practices a week. It's definitely not like a varsity practice -- overweight, middle-aged men usually walk around Sheerr Pool in their Speedos -- but that gives it some ambience. Some of the players on the women's team played in high school, but success stories of those beginning in college are not uncommon. Greig, originally from the Philadelphia area, played water polo while at Andover where she was an All-American. Senior co-captain Jen Goldstein, however, started playing as a sophomore at Penn. Other key players for the Quakers include sophomore Natalie Dunn, one of the leading scorers. At the two-meter defender position is Deborah Robbins, another sophomore from California. The women try to keep the program an instructional one as much as possible in order to encourage new members to join. "Penn, by accident, gets phenomenal water polo players, but doesn't take advantage," Greig says. "You can only do so much as a club." Lee also recognizes that it's tough being competitive against other teams that practice year-round. "Half of the team was new players," Lee says. "But they played really well and were a lot of fun to be with." Penn's men had a very strong fall season, consistently ranking among the top 15 club teams nationally. They finished in the middle of their 10-team division. Two-time junior captain David Stone was named to the Mid-Atlantic first team and sophomore Donald Kwon was named to the second team. "They're a great group of guys and really talented," Greig says. Lee shows his talent at every women's practice. In fact, the freshman parks himself in front of the cage as the team takes shooting practice.

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