Putting Resources in the Pool

It’s a work in progress, a fixer-upper trying to catch up with the rest of the digs in the high-rent district of Olympic training sites.

But it’s easy to understand why the U.S. men’s and women’s water polo teams are proud of the humble facility that has given the teams a home and a place to host two prestigious international competitions starting tonight.

Five years ago, the pool at Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center was a muddy, weed-filled swamp, a habitat more fitting for the frogs and ducks that took up residence there than for world-class athletes.

Today, that picture is remarkably different. More than $750,000 in renovations has transformed U.S. Water Polo’s National Aquatic Center into a facility fit for an Olympic preview.

That’s exactly what happens tonight, when the UPS Cup men’s tournament gets underway featuring five of the teams that will play at the Olympics in Sydney.

The U.S. men’s team plays Australia at 8:30 p.m. Team UPS, comprised of younger U.S. players, takes on Croatia, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist, at 6. Yugoslavia meets Italy at 7:15.

The men’s championship is set for Sunday. The six women’s teams that will compete in Sydney--the first time women’s water polo will be played as an Olympic sport--will then meet in the Holiday Cup, July 4-9.

The aquatic center will be dressed to impress, with corporate banners borrowed from the Long Beach Grand Prix. Mostly hidden, officials hope, will be the not-so-state-of-the-art parts of the facility.

Although the pool is sparkling, the surrounding facility--vintage 1942--is spartan.

The locker rooms, in low-slung, barracks-like buildings next to the pool deck, are spare. In some places the flooring is bare concrete; in others artificial turf has been laid down. The showers and toilets are inadequate, so portable restrooms will be set up for spectators. Plans are to renovate the locker rooms and offices after the tournament.

“It’s starting to change a bit, but it’s not the best-looking place around; we’re hoping one day it will be,” said Guy Baker, coach of the U.S. women’s team. “By the time we’re done, it’s going to be one of the top facilities around. It’s just nice to have a home. Every team should have a home.”

For years, U.S. water polo teams have been vagabonds, hunting for pool time wherever--and whenever--they could find it.

Monte Nitzkowski, who coached U.S. Olympic men’s teams in 1968, 1972 and 1984, remembers being forced to practice late at night, sometimes finishing after midnight, because water polo had such low priority when it came to scheduling pool access. On occasion, Nitzkowski said, his team would show up at a pool for practice and find another group in the water.

“I would always say, ‘I wonder if the Russian team is having the same problem,’ ” said Nitzkowski, who has come out of retirement to be an assistant coach with the men’s team.

The situation has improved for the men’s team since the late 1980s because national team coaches Bill Barnett and John Vargas are also local high school coaches and were able to arrange prime-time access to the pools at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high schools.

But those pools are getting more crowded all the time because of the increasing popularity of girls’ water polo, which was sanctioned by the Southern Section in 1996. The Los Alamitos venue gives U.S. Water Polo a way around the gridlock.

Resurrecting the pool hasn’t been easy. Before being approached by Rich Foster, then president of U.S. Water Polo, in 1995, the military had given up on it. After four years of neglect, it was thought to be beyond repair.

But water polo officials struck a deal with the California Army National Guard. With $300,000 from U.S. Water Polo and the U.S. Olympic Committee and a lot of help from local pool and spa industry, the pool was repaired--to a degree.

The U.S. men’s team trained there for about a month before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but it was clear there were still problems.

First the filter system, which hadn’t been replaced since the pool was built, broke down. The water heaters, supplied by antique gas lines, malfunctioned. Contractual disagreements between U.S. Water Polo and the military caused the pool to be closed for about a year.

Not wanting a recreational resource wasted, the city of Los Alamitos stepped in.

Recreation manager Mark Wagner and then-mayor Ronald Bates brought the two sides together and helped arrange more funding, including $200,000 from the county, $335,000 from the state and $150,000 from George Briggeman Jr., a local businessman.

There were more pool repairs, and bleachers and lights were added to get the facility ready for an international women’s tournament in December 1998.

Since then, the pool has been well-used by recreation and swimming clubs. But polo has priority.

Although short on creature comforts, the facility provides a comfortable home.

Said Julie Swail, captain of the U.S. women’s team: “Just give us a pool, a friendly community and warm water and we’ll be happy. Of course, there’s a Jacuzzi on our wish list and toilets and showers will be nice, but we can live with this.”

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U.S. TEAM

A look at key U.S. men’s water polo team players, who are vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team:

Christopher Aguilera, 23. Goalkeeper; 6-2, 180

Hometown: Saratoga. Education: Stanford

Career highlights: Second place, 1998 NCAA championships; three-time All-American.

Gavin Arroyo, 28. Two-Meter Defender; 6-3, 190

Hometown: Orange. Education: California, Villa Park High

Career highlights: First place, 1999 Pan American Games; 1996 Olympian.

Tony Azevedo, 18. Driver; 6-1, 193

Hometown: Long Beach. Education: Long Beach Wilson High

Career highlights: Southern Section Division I champion, 1996-1999; Division I player of the year, 1998-99; first place, 1999 Pan American Games.

Ryan Bailey, 24. Two-Meter Offense; 6-6, 245

Hometown: Long Beach. Education: UC Irvine

Career highlights: First place, 1998 Newport International; first place, 1999 Pan American Games; All-American, 1995-98.

Layne Beaubien, 23. Two-Meter Defender; 6-5, 205

Hometown: Coronado. Education: Stanford

Career highlight: Second place, 1998 NCAA Championships.

Ryan Flynn, 23. Two-Meter Offense/Defense; 6-8, 230

Hometown: Los Angeles. Education: California

Career highlights: Second place, 1995 NCAA championships; first-team All-American and Academic All-American, 1998.

Dan Hackett, 29. Goalkeeper; 6-6, 200

Hometown: Irvine. Education: UCLA

Career highlights: 1996 Olympian; first place, 1999 Pan American Games; first place, 1998 Newport International; two-time All-American at UCLA.

Chris Humbert, 30. Two-Meter Offense; 6-7, 225

Hometown: Lodi. Education: California

Career highlights: Two-time Olympian, 1992, 1996; first place, 1999 Pan American Games.

Sean Kern, 21. Two-Meter Offense; 6-6, 215

Hometown: Honolulu. Education: UCLA

Career highlights: First place, 1999 NCAA championships; Peter Cutino Award, nation’s top collegiate player, 1999; first-team All-American, 1999.

Kyle Kopp, 33. Two-Meter Offense; 6-8, 235

Hometown: Long Beach. Education: Long Beach State

Career highlights: 1996 Olympian; first place, 1999 Pan American Games; first place, 1997 FINA World Cup; first place, 1998 Newport International.

Chi Kredell, 29. Two-Meter Defender; 6-2, 196

Hometown: Seal Beach. Education: Long Beach State

Career highlights: First place, 1999 Pan American Games; first place, 1997 FINA World Cup; fifth-highest scorer in Long Beach State history.

Robert Lynn, 33. Two-Meter Defense; 6-2, 200

Hometown: Long Beach. Education: USC

Career highlights: First place, 1999 Pan American Games; third place, 1999 UPS Cup in Newport Beach; four-time All-American at USC.

Merrill Moses, 22. Goalkeeper; 6-2, 205

Hometown: Rancho Palos Verdes. Education: Pepperdine

Career highlights: First place, 1995 Junior Pan American Games; MVP of 1997 NCAA championships; first-team All-American, 1997.

Sean Nolan, 27. Goalkeeper; 6-6, 215

Hometown: Palo Alto. Education: California

Career highlights: First place, 1999 Pan American Games; first place, 1998 Newport International; first place, 1991 and ’92 NCAA championships.

Chris Oeding, 28. Driver; 6-1, 185

Hometown: Newport Beach. Education: California

Career highlights: 1996 Olympian; first place, 1999 Pan American Games; First place, NCAA championships, 1990, ‘91, ’92.

Jeremy Pope, 22. Utility; 6-5, 240

Hometown: Clovis. Education: Pepperdine

Career highlights: First place, 1999 Pan American Games; third place, 1999 UPS Cup; first place, 1997 NCAA championships.

Bradley Schumacher, 26. Utility; 6-5, 205

Hometown: Bowie, Md. Education: University of the Pacific

Career highlights: Two-time 1996 Olympic gold medalist in swimming (4x100, 4x200 relays); All-American in water polo all four years at Pacific.

Wolf Wigo, 27. Driver; 6-3, 195

Hometown: New York. Education: Stanford

Career highlights: 1996 Olympian; first place, 1999 Pan American Games; USA Water Polo player of the year, 1999.

UPS Cup Men’s International Tournament

* What: UPS Cup Men’s International Tournament

* When: Today-Sunday

* Where: USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center, located on the Joint Forces Training Base, 11200 Lexington Drive, Los Alamitos

* Basics: Round-robin tournament gives U.S. coaches their final look at athletes competing for spots on Olympic team, which will be named Aug. 1. Tournament field includes Croatia, the 1996 Olympic and 1999 European Championships silver medalists; Italy, the 1996 Olympic brone medalist and 1999 World Cup runner-up; Yugoslavia, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, and Australa, the 2000 Olympic host nation’s team. The U.S. team won at the 1997 World Cup and 1999 Pan-American games.

* Today’s schedule: 6 p.m.--Croatia vs. TBA; 7:15--Yugoslavia vs. Italy; 8:30--U.S. vs. Australia.

* Wednesday’s schedule: 6 p.m.--Yugoslavia vs. TBA; 7:15--Australia vs. Italy; 8:30--U.S. vs. Croatia.

* Thursday’s schedule: 6 p.m.--Yugoslavia vs. Australia; 7:15--Italy vs. Croatia; 8:30--U.S. vs. TBA.

* Friday’s schedule: 6 p.m.--Italy vs. TBA; 7:15--Australia vs. Croatia; 8:30--U.S. vs. Yugoslavia.

* Saturday’s schedule: noon--Australia vs. TBA; 1:30 p.m.--U.S. vs. Italy; 3--Yugoslavia vs. Croatia.

* Sunday’s schedule: noon--fifth place vs. sixth place; 1:30 p.m.--third place vs. fourth place; 3--first place vs. second place.

* Tickets: All sessions--$32 for adults, $20 for students; individual sessions--$10 for adults, $6 for students; finals only--$12 for adults, $8 for students.

* Website: https://www.ups-cup.com

* Information: City of Los Alamitos, Recreation and Community Services Dept., (562) 430-1073

Strokes on the Water

Water polo was introduced to the U.S. in 1888 at the Boston Athletic Assn. Teams consist of six field players and a goalie. Players try to advance the ball by passing it or swimming with it--dribbling--until close enough to take a shot at the opponent’s goal for a single point. The physically grueling game dmeands that players constantly swim or tread water. They may swim up to two miles during a game.