IN A DIFFERENT
POOL, WATER POLO MAKES A SPLASH
By Pete Thamel, New York Times, August, 2008
BEIJING — The focus of this Olympics in the United States has
been locked into the pool, as watching Michael Phelps’s transcendent
performances at the Water Cube became a nightly ritual.
The American water polo teams are crafting some strong story lines in a different pool, as the men’s team’s scintillating 8-7 victory over Germany on Monday guaranteed that both American teams will be playing for a medal. The American men secured a bye in the quarterfinals and will play the winner of Serbia and Spain for a spot in the gold-medal game.
While water polo is not likely to put folks in a week-long trance like Phelps, the American performances here have created one of the biggest buzzes in the Olympics’ second week.
The American men have not won an Olympic medal since 1988. The women are ranked No. 1 in the world and are favored to win their first gold medal.
“No one really gave us a chance, but our team goal was to win our group and to make the final four,” the veteran American center Ryan Bailey said. “It feels really good. Now we have to go on and win the gold medal. That’s what we’re here for, and that’s what we have to do.”
The American men’s team unexpected advancement came with a splash of international intrigue. Italy stunned Serbia on Monday morning, 13-12, and there was open talk about the Serbians losing on purpose in order to play Spain instead of Montenegro, which declared independence from Serbia in May 2006. The winner of Serbia’s game with Spain will play the Americans in the semifinals.
The Serbian coach Dejan Udovicic said his team is in a “really bad position” and looked “really tired.” But United States Coach Terry Schroeder said there was open talk in the Olympic Village Monday morning about the Serbians losing on purpose.
“Regardless of whether or not they did, this is a huge accomplishment for this team,” Schroeder said.
The game was not without its nervous moments, as Merrill Moses made a point-blank save on Germany’s Soren Christoph Mackeben with 3:55 remaining to preserve a one-goal lead. Moses shined again for the Americans, finishing with 14 saves.
With 15 seconds left, Germany appeared to tie the score, 8-8, on an amazing goal by Thomas Schertwitis. He had his back to the goal, and whipped it past Moses. But he had restarted illegally, negating the goal and causing a wave of disbelief by the Germans.
“I am angry with the referee,” the German Coach Hagen Stamm said. “The referees didn’t want to give us a chance to win the game.”
Perhaps the best sign of how far that American water polo team has come is they won without a goal from star Tony Azevedo, who entered the day as the tournament’s fourth leading scorer. The balanced effort is indicative of how the Americans have evolved from an afterthought to the forefront of the water polo world.
The United States entered the Olympics ranked No. 9 in the world, and by advancing to the semifinals showed the swift revival that Schroeder has overseen. The fourth American coach in the past four years, Schroeder took over a team that lost to Serbia by double digits as recently as February.
“This team has really been through a lot,” Schroeder said. “When I came aboard, it was as close to a dysfunctional family as you could find. We’d been through three coaches in three years and there were a lot of individuals and good pieces.”
Schroeder built chemistry by acting as a father figure and scheduling training matches with the top teams in the world. He cited a one-goal loss to the world power Hungary as a turning point, as the team left the game with the felling of, “We can do this.”
“We had to practice and play against the best teams in the world and have some success against them along the way,” Schroeder said.
The Americans relied on a familiar formula at these Olympics on Monday. They controlled the game at the defensive end and squeezed out just enough offense to seal the victory. Adam Wright’s goal on the doorstep of the left post to make it 8-6 with 2:47 remaining proved to be the clincher.
When the final horn sounded, Schroeder thrust his hands over his head in celebration.
“We’re playing as a team now,” said Jeff Powers, who along with Wright led the Americans with two goals. “In the past we were relying on a couple of people. Everyone is contributing and everyone is believing and we’re playing great defense. It’s not just one thing. It’s a combination of things coming together at the right time.”
And the combination of good timing and a bit of serendipity has the Americans hoping folks back home will jump in the pool and support them the next few days.
“If the focus is on the pool, that’s great,” Bailey said. “All of our guys started out as swimmers, so we kind of know what they go through. But we all figured out that water polo is much more fun than swimming.”
And for the American water polo
teams, the fun appears to be just beginning.
