The players may be smiling and laughing, even when going through
one of the most grueling practices in collegiate water polo.
With arms interlocking and legs eggbeatering for sheer survival,
the UCLA women’s water polo team simulates the
“drowning” exercise, designed to mimic what occurs in
the pool when players tug, lean and pull each other to submerge
them under water.
All season long, UCLA coach Adam Krikorian has implemented such
exercises in trying to keep his team sharp and challenged
throughout the season. With competition scarce in many games,
practices for the Bruins have been the one place where the play is
consistently fierce.
“We have practices that are arguably much more intense,
more competitive and much more physically demanding than any game
we’ll play,” Krikorian said. “That’s a huge
advantage that we have.”
“By far our best competition is ourselves,” driver
Thalia Munro added. “We go for it every single practice.
We’re as good as our last player and because of that our
practices are so intense and that has really been the foundation of
our team.”
Natalie Golda, considered the team’s strongest player,
provides the pinnacle of physicality during the Bruins’
demanding practices.
“Everyone gets a little scared, but they put up a good
fight,” Rulon said of facing off against Golda in the
drowning exercise.
“If I could dunk Nat, I would be very impressed with
myself,” Munro said with a smile. “But I don’t
think I necessarily would go for it.”
While most of the players may not be sinking Golda in the
drowning exercise, Krikorian said his players do not necessarily
shy away from the challenge.
“I think a lot of people like to match up with Natalie
because it’s a little bit more of a competition and a
challenge,” Krikorian said. “This team really responds
to challenges.”
Along with the drowning exercise, the Bruins typically implement
a “dunking” exercise near the end of practice where
each player jumps on another player’s shoulders as the one
being pushed downward tries to stay afloat.
Such activities have helped players increase leg strength for
quicker explosions out of the water and for longer endurance.
Along with such training, Krikorian has continued to implement a
steady regime where he puts 12-pound weight belts on his centers,
Kacy Kunkel and Brittany Rowe, to provide some sort of
motivation.
“The weight belts are in a sense forced motivation,”
Krikorian said. “You either work a little bit harder to stay
above water, or you’re going to play the practices under
water.”
Aside from the various exercises that require submerging players
under water, the one exercise that Krikorian points to as being the
biggest reason why the Bruins have been successful is the work with
blue weight balls, often called blueberries.
The 14-pound blueberries have been used more frequently this
season than any other. And the results are more than apparent in
the pool. Since January, Krikorian has used the blueberries to
improve his players’ leg, core, and upper body strength by
having his players pass and catch the ball above their heads while
in the water.
“In the beginning when they caught it they would be taken
back,” Krikorian said. “Their heads would be barely
above the water. Now, we’re at the point (where) these girls
are like as steady as a rock, catching and passing these things;
there’s no movement in their bodies.
“It’s been great to see the development in their
legs and core strength. I think it’s been a big reason for
our success offensively this year.”
While the results of the work with the blueberries is apparent,
players have felt the pain.
“They’re just hell,” Golda said. “It
shows our legs have gotten a lot stronger as much as I hate to say
it.”
It is yet to be seen whether the girls are up to the ultimate
challenge Krikorian has made his men’s team take part in,
when he challenged his players to carry him across the pool on a
bench.
“These girls are strong, but I’ve gained a few
pounds in the last six months, so I don’t know if
they’re up for that challenge,” Krikorian said
jokingly.