Column: Birth of water polo is here

By: Justin Feil
   Before our eyes, we are seeing the birth of water polo on the East Coast, and it’s nothing like that alarming movie we saw in health class.
   Water polo has been around for more than a century, and it is the New York Athletic Club that has recorded the only U.S. gold medal at an Olympic Games. That came in 1904 — when only American teams wanted to compete in less than inviting conditions.
   Interest since then swelled on the West Coast while it waned in the East, and it hasn’t been linked to the report that several athletes were stricken with typhoid fever in those 1904 Olympics after playing in a contaminated pond. The East is coming back again.
   The eastern growth can be seen in our extended area, as Pennington Prep will add a water polo team this fall. Lawrenceville School has long had a team. The Hun School started its own club two years ago, and the best reason to suspect that water polo can stick in the area is because of the passion and dedication of its players.
   Not only did Guy Helman and Miles Radcliffe-Trenner compete on a recent Princeton water polo team that finished 26th at the Junior Olympics against a decidedly West Coast field, but they are trying to ensure that there will be a strong future core of players.
   Almost daily at Nassau Swim Club, the two Princeton residents guide a group of 8- to 13-year-olds who are learning to play the game. They call themselves the Lemmings, which is not to imply that they are in any danger of committing mass suicide after taking up the sport. Among the players are their younger brothers, Hugh Helman and Winslow Radcliffe-Trenner.
   "We’ve shown the kids on the Lemmings water polo team the facts, concepts and skills they need in order to play," said Miles Radcliffe-Trenner, who attends the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. "These skills entail things like the objectives and rules, positions, offensive and defensive strategies, and, of course, various swimming and ball-handling techniques.
   "Teaching and coaching these brand new players," he added, "has helped me think through some of my own approaches to strategy and technique."
   Water polo is catching on with those that were year-round swimmers at some point, like Helman was. Playing water polo adds an element to the speed of swimming, and since it is played in the fall, many swimmers can compete outside of their normal winter.
   Princeton University, home to Top-20 teams for both the Tiger men and women, hosts masters water polo twice per week in DeNunzio Pool. It is an opportunity for those that played to continue their careers and for adults to get involved in the growing sport. Haley Carstensen, a Princeton resident who plays for the Lawrenceville School, is a 17-year-old female who uses the masters competition to improve her own play. She is one of the top rising seniors on the East Coast.
   The water polo community is close. They share in the excitement of each other’s accomplishments. The existing water polo programs are thrilled, not intimidated, to see Pennington add a team.
   They know that while the game is an easy sell in terms of being a fun and physical water sport (it began as something of water rugby in England in the mid-19th century), there are still hurdles on the East Coast. There isn’t tons of equipment necessary, but pools must be accessible. And players.
   On the East Coast, they are working on getting the players to fill the pools. There are pools at West Windsor-Plainsboro North and South, at Princeton’s John Witherspoon School and a new one at Montgomery High School. There are year-round swimmers to take up some of the time in them, but it’s not long before they’re filled in the fall season with water polo players.