Revamped Team Debuts With Loss

The U.S. national women’s water polo team made its Southern California debut Wednesday, a few years younger and a lot less experienced than it was 10 months ago at the Sydney Olympics.

The Americans, without longtime national team members Maureen O’Toole and Julie Swail, lost to Canada, 5-4, in the opening round of the Holiday Cup tournament at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Center.

The 13-player team, which includes eight Southern Californians, will compete through Sunday, then travel to Fukuoka, Japan in two weeks for the FINA World Championships.

Amber Stachowski, 18, is the first of many talented junior players who will be counted on to fill the void left by O’Toole and Swail, who combined for nearly 35 years of national team experience. O’Toole retired shortly after the Olympics and Swail was cut from the team last weekend.

Some believe Stachowski’s arrival signals a passing of the torch. Others feel the retrofit began three years ago, when Coach Guy Baker took control of the team.

“It was the end of an era when Guy became coach,” said O’Toole, who has competed in more world championships than any other U.S. player. “He started his own era.”

Baker’s youth movement is no surprise to those close to the team, although some thought Swail’s departure could have waited until after the world championships, when she planned to retire.

“It makes me sad for her,” said O’Toole, named the world’s player of the year seven times. “It would have been nice if she could have gone out on a high note.”

Baker coached the team part-time until January, when he was given a full-time position and named the program’s national director. He has made a concerted effort to tap into the growing pool of talent across the country.

In May, Baker organized eight player-identification clinics around the country, including one in Los Alamitos. He was pleasantly surprised with the number of talented players in attendance, bringing several to international tournaments last month.

As the national program director, he also has a big hand in stocking the junior and youth national teams, most of which were filled by players identified through the clinics.

This year, Baker had to make several difficult decisions involving veteran and inexperienced players. One of those decisions involved Swail, the team captain. Baker informed Swail on Saturday that she wouldn’t be accompanying the team to Japan.

Swail, 28, said she wasn’t surprised at the announcement. As coach of the new water polo program at UC Irvine, she couldn’t put her full-time focus into preparing for the world championships.

Swail doesn’t look forward to the departure of the few remaining pioneers, such as Courtney Johnson and Heather Moody.

“It’s going to be a sad day when all the old ladies are gone,” she said. “A big chapter is closing.”