UCLA men’s water polo team might have a number of players who were teammates in high school, but no combination has as much combined collegiate and high school experience as fifth-year seniors Stephen White and Chris Fahlsing.
The two have been playing on the same water polo teams since 2006, a year in which many of this season’s water polo freshmen were just 10 years old. Over the past nine years of being teammates they have developed an extremely close friendship, according to White.
During their time at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, White and Fahlsing competed with UCLA water polo legend Brett Ormsby as their coach. In 2009, their senior season, they led the water polo team to Cathedral Catholic’s first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship since 1992.
As high school seniors, both received first-team All-CIF San Diego Section honors and earned spots on the San Diego Union Tribune All-Academic Team. In the fall of 2010, one year after their CIF championship win, they arrived at UCLA to begin their collegiate careers.
The location and atmosphere may have changed, but White and Fahlsing experienced the whole transition as teammates.
“Coming in as freshmen we were roommates together,” Fahlsing said. “Knowing somebody from high school and understanding their personality, their sense of humor, their level of sarcasm and just how they talk made things fun. It was just good to know someone coming into a new place.”
That connection has not gone unnoticed by the UCLA coaching staff over the course of the past five seasons.
“I think the relationship they had coming into here and how they interact with each other rubs off on their teammates,” said coach Adam Wright. “It’s a bonus.”
Following their redshirt freshmen seasons, the two continued to live together, eventually moving from the Hill to an apartment. With each water polo season, they’ve been able to bring their combined high school and collegiate experiences to the team.
“I think that having success in high school helps. Whether you’re playing in a CIF final or an NCAA final, there’s an amount of pressure that goes with that,” White said. “When you’re a senior in high school you place a lot of pressure on yourself to win. That being said, just because we won a CIF championship has no bearing on whether we’re going to win an NCAA championship.”
Both of the Bruin seniors returned this season as fifth-years in hopes of achieving that NCAA title. They said they know it will take more than hope to get them there.
“We’re really unsatisfied with never having won before. We had a big win last weekend against USC and the first thing Adam says today is that it’s time to keep marching forward. And it’s so true,” White said. “You can never be complacent here because the second you become complacent you get passed. We’re going to do everything we can to carry it through.”
This season, Fahlsing has 18 goals for the Bruin offense, garnering a pair of hat tricks. White, who has served as a backup to starting goalie Garrett Danner, currently leads the team with a 3.36 goals-against average. In addition to their individual performances, the seniors’ contributions to the team go beyond the stat sheet.
“For me the biggest thing is getting two great kids from a great program who have a great work ethic,” Wright said. “(They) have the drive and, to me, that’s the absolute biggest thing that those two bring to the program. The reality is that I wish all of our players were like that.”