“Crunch”, “Kersplat”,  “Boom”. Those are just some of the sounds you may hear at the average boys water polo game. The games can get pretty physical, but the boys train for these physical games by doing drills, one of which Junior Charlie Robling calls “seven minutes in Kevin” where they tread above the pool (or ‘Kevin’) for seven minutes.

Robling is widely considered to be a ‘coach’ and one of the “core four” offensive players of the team.”We have our therapists on speed dial,” said Robling. Why the need for therapists? The experiences they went through playing against Jesus, the beasty stallion from Morton, are enough to keep anyone awake. It was one of the team’s biggest regrets from last year: not being able to beat Morton even though it was the school they played the most.

This year they are not worried about anything, not even their 6-24 record from last year. Even though the team suffered a big loss, losing their sharpshooter Nick Pavlakovic, who could shoot an eagle from 50 yards away, was their biggest loss. Robling said “There’s a reason my car doesn’t have rearview mirrors. It’s because I don’t like to look into the past.” It is good that Charlie is looking ahead seeing that they are gaining a speed demon named Nolan Dowling, but the team may need to hit the weight room to compare to the other schools in the conference.

Through all the pain, both physical and mental, some would think: what’s the point? What makes water polo fun to play? “In water polo you don’t have time for such introspective thoughts you have to be on your feet,” said Robling. “Not literally though, because that’s a penalty, and you have to be alert because you can’t let your teammates down.” All in all, the boys are getting ready for another great season.