High School Water Polo Preview : Daland Wears Genes Into Pool

The new water polo coach at Westlake High would be wise to consult dear old mom and dad for advice on coaching.

After all, his father, Peter Daland, has coached the swim team at USC for 29 years and won nine national championships. His mother, Ingrid, a world-class West German swimmer in the early ‘60s, coaches the Simi Valley Swim Club and Westlake High swim team. She also runs the Daland Swim School in Thousand Oaks.

But Peter Daland Jr., a walk-on coach who is a senior at Cal State Northridge, has not asked his parents for advice, nor do they want him to. Sure, mom and dad give their son encouragement, but any help to Peter Jr. stops there.

“We don’t want to peek over his shoulder, and he would probably get nervous if we did,” Ingrid says. “It’s his business. He is a big boy now and can do well on his own.”

A month into his first season as a high school coach, and after opening the season with five losses, Daland had not even talked with his father about his team.

Finally, dad called. There wasn’t a big talk. Peter Sr. had been away from home recruiting for USC and watching the European swimming championships. He just wanted to know how his son was doing.

Dad just asked, “How’s water polo going?” and Peter Jr. answered “OK.” Nothing more, nothing less. Then, the conversation shifted to other topics.

As does his wife, Peter Sr. believes that his son will fare well on his own, with no assistance from himself. His reasoning: Peter Jr. has been around his parents’ swim meets all his life and played water polo on the junior national team as well as at Westlake.

“If I told him how to coach, I would feel like I was butting in on his life,” Peter Sr. says. “We didn’t push him into coaching. This is something he wanted to do.”

Peter Sr. added that as a swim coach he knows little about water polo and would not be of much help to his son.

“Each coach has to find their own approach to coaching,” Peter Sr. said.

His parents’ attitude has left Peter Jr. somewhat miffed. He says that there are times when he wants to ask his mother what she would do in a certain situation but she says “you have to form your own standards and learn on your own.”

Consequently, Westlake’s water polo team, which has never finished higher than third place in the Marmonte league, does not have a younger version of the elder Daland, whose USC swim teams have compiled a record of 290-30-1.

Some of mom and dad likely may have rubbed off on Peter Jr., and his exposure to their teams couldn’t have hurt. But the members of Westlake’s water polo team have in Peter Jr. an “energetic and demanding coach who you can respect but also talk to about your performance,” according to senior driver Jeff Lingens.

Lingens believes that Westlake can eventually challenge Royal, winner of eight Marmonte League titles in a row, despite the five-game Warrior losing streak that began with an 18-3, loss to Oxnard. He predicts a second-place finish in the league this year and dethroning Royal thereafter.

“Peter will build a program better than Westlake has ever had before,” Lingens says, “because he expects a lot from his players. “

Daland’s arduous workouts have already prompted some players to quit the team. He plans to implement a year-round training program, which Westlake has not done in recent years. Until then, the rookie coach is still looking for his first win.

Harvard -- The Saracens, Southern Section 2-A Division champions last year, move up to the 3-A level. Stiffer competition, however, shouldn’t bother them.

Coach Rich Corso’s squad spent two weeks in Liguria, Italy, this summer playing “the best teams in Europe.” The Saracens won only two of 18 games against teams that Corso considers comparable to the “top six NCAA teams.”

Anchoring Harvard will be goalie Larry Bercutt, the 2-A player of the year last season, and drivers Brian Border, Eric Deutsch and Jim Toring, a freshman who played on the national youth team.

Royal -- The Highlanders will be shooting for their ninth consecutive Marmonte title under Coach Steve Snyder. And they will try to end a playoff hex.

Royal has lost in the second round of the Southern Section 4-A playoffs in seven of the past eight years.

Outside driver Devin Hurst and two-meter man Todd Hurst, who are cousins, are the leaders of a junior-dominated team that gained experience in an international tournament in Hawaii this summer. There are also high expectations for goalie Paul Krueger and two-meter man Brent Hooker.

Simi Valley -- The Pioneers have won only one match in the past two years, but new Coach Jim Owens believes that he has inherited a team with enough talent to make the playoffs.

Owens served as an assistant under Snyder throughout Royal’s Marmonte League championship streak. The good friends, however, have not become instant rivals.

Snyder has given Owens’ team permission to swim in the larger Royal pool and borrow equipment. The two frequently call each other and talk about their teams.

Notable on the Pioneer roster are two-meter man Chad Stanford, driver Jeff Rosenberg and goalie Mike Sigler.

Agoura--Junior drivers Jason Stelle and Kevin Driscoll lead the Chargers, who won the recent Frontier League tournament, thereby establishing themselves as the team to beat. Agoura finished second in league play behind Santa Ynez last season.

Other contributors to Agoura’s 4-0 start are seniors Steve Gould, Mike Forys and Todd Newton and junior goalie Hooshie Broomand.

Calabasas--The Coyotes are attempting to rebound from what Coach Dave Hershman called “a rebuilding year.” Junior goalie Brinton Robinson is a two-year starter. Two-meter man Ken Lee and driver Mike Litter should do the bulk of the scoring.

“I think we can play Agoura tough,” Hershman said. “I think our guys think they can give them a good game.”

Crespi--T. J. Greene and Rusty King are among the players who will lead the Celts in the Del Rey League. Crespi should contend with league rivals Harvard, Mater Dei and Servite for playoff berths.