Adventures in water polo: a tale of a fish out of water

I consider myself to be in decent shape because I play tennis and hurdle. Consequently, even though I knew that water polo involved a lot of treading water, I didn’t think it would be too exhausting. Turns out I was wrong.

As I arrived at the pool, I received questioning looks from the players who were confused as to who I was. When I told them that I would be practicing with them, a few gave me sympathetic looks and wished me luck, so I could only wonder what was in store for me.

While waiting for practice to start, senior Stephanie Chen explained the basics of water polo. There are seven players, one of whom is the goalie. The sport is played like soccer in the water, and players use only one hand at a time to handle the ball.

“So far, so good,” I thought. I know how to play soccer, and I used to play softball, so I know I can catch and throw.
After I introduced myself to coach Rafael Alapont, we started warming up, and after a pitiful five minutes of treading water, I found myself struggling to get out of the pool. When I was finally able to summon my arm strength, my upper body flopped onto the deck, and my legs flailed around, attempting to find land.

When warm-up was over, we practiced passing the ball. I found it hard to concentrate on passing when I could feel the lactic acid building up in my legs and could barely manage to stay afloat. Fortunately, after a few minutes, I got the hang of it and could pass decently, although I had to cling on the wall to make sure I wouldn’t drown.

Next, we ran through some drills that focused on shooting. While the water polo players’ shots were powerful and precisely aimed, my shots landed softly into the goalie’s hands.
The practice ended with a few laps, which I sat out after I realized I could barely move my legs. Instead, I admired the speed and gracefulness of the water polo players’ strokes.

After practice, many players told me that this was the easiest practice they have had all season because they had an intense game the day before. I could only smile weakly and return slowly to my car so I could go home to take a long nap.

Even though I mostly idled around either by sitting outside the pool or floating on a ball and hanging on to dear life, I still found myself slightly sore the next morning.
After this grueling two-hour practice, I’ve come to understand both the literal and figurative meaning of  “being in deep water.”