FALL ’88 ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : WATER POLO : Oeding Followed His Brother Into the Pool

Chris Oeding of Corona del Mar High School never was interested in water polo. That was his brother’s sport.

Chris Oeding was a swimmer. Water polo just didn’t appeal to him.

“I was looking forward to competing on the swim team at Corona del Mar,” Oeding said. “That was my sport.”

Then Jeff Oeding, now at Stanford, led Corona del Mar into the Southern Section championship game in 1984. Although the Sea Kings lost to Newport Harbor, 14-7, the game had a profound effect on Chris, who was in eighth grade at the time.

“I went to only a couple of games, but I started to get excited about water polo,” Oeding said. “It was such a fast-paced game that it looked fun. And I thought it would be a great way to stay in shape for swim season.”

It proved to be a good decision. Oeding, now a senior, has been a 3-year starter and was a big reason that the Sea Kings won back-to-back 4-A championships.

Oeding, The Times’ water polo player of the year, led Corona del Mar in scoring this season. He had 3 goals and 3 assists in the Southern Section title game, in which the Sea Kings defeated Sunny Hills, 10-7.

A year ago, he scored 7 goals in Corona del Mar’s 10-8 victory over Newport Harbor in the 1987 Southern Section championship game.

Oeding, 18, is considered one of the best young water polo players in the nation. Last summer he competed for the U.S. junior national team in the qualifying tournament for the World Championships, which will be in Europe this summer.

Oeding became a starter as a sophomore, something that was almost unheard of at Corona del Mar.

“I really didn’t thing anything about at first,” said Oeding, who hopes to attend Stanford, California or UCLA. “Then we started playing games, and I started feeling intimidated. I was afraid I would mess up.”

Then the Sea Kings played El Toro. The Chargers concentrated on Corona del Mar’s seniors, almost daring Oeding to shoot. He scored 4 goals.

“After that, I started realizing there were very few sophomores playing varsity, so I must be pretty good,” said Oeding, who was named to the All-Southern Section first team last season and will undoubtably be named again this season. “I started getting serious about the sport.”

So how does he feel about swimming now?

“I hate it,” Oeding said. “It’s too boring. All you do is look at the bottom of the pool and swim back and forth.”

FIRST TEAM

Chris Oeding Sr. Corona del Mar Jason Santiago Sr. Sunny Hills Jason Klingsberg Sr. Sunny Hills Matt Teeple Sr. El Toro Matt McClear Jr. El Dorado Chad Barker Sr. Villa Park Goalie Scott Taylor Sr. Costa Mesa

SECOND TEAM

Hagan Grantham Sr. Corona del Mar Jay Warren Sr. Tustin Bryon Ballard Sr. University Morgan Courtney Sr. Fullerton Paul Felton Jr. Capo Valley Sam Allevato Sr. San Clemente Goalie Pete Schuler Sr. Foothill