THE PREPS : South Coast Water Polo Tournament : With Coach in Seoul, Newport Harbor Looks to Crow

Each day Dean Crow goes out to the pool at Newport Harbor High School. Each day he runs the Sailors’ water polo program. Each day the players call him “coach.”

Still, it feels awkward.

“Bill Barnett demands a certain amount of dedication and respect because of the man’s reputation,” Crow said.

But Barnett, Newport Harbor’s water polo coach for the past 20 years, is in Seoul, coaching the U.S. water polo team. So it’s Crow who must keep the Newport Harbor team together for the first part of the season.

Newport Harbor, Southern Section 4-A runner-up a year ago, opens play in the 20th South Coast tournament today against Laguna Beach at home. It’s the first real test for the Sailors (2-0), who opened their season with victories over Downey and Riverside Poly.

“I basically look on this tournament as a test of how well I’ve done while Barnett’s been gone,” said Crow, who played for Barnett at Newport Harbor.

After graduating from Newport Harbor in 1984, Crow played for three seasons at UC Irvine. He gave up his final year of eligibility to concentrate on coaching.

Crow has been an assistant coach at Newport Harbor for the past four years.

“The kids know that everything I’ve learned about water polo, I learned from Bill,” Crow said. “I’m running the same type of program.”

Still, Crow will be happy when Barnett returns in two weeks.

Sunny Hills is seeded No. 1 in the tournament. The Lancers, who reached the semifinals of the section 4-A playoffs last season, will play Mira Costa at 5:30 p.m. at Tustin High School.