He refers to what he did two years ago as taking a golf cart on
a test run for a routine pickup. Others might refer to it as
stealing a golf cart to pick up some fast food. But regardless of
what you think about Josh Hewko’s decision, one thing is
certain ““ he’s a guy who learns from experience.
“You have college experiences like that,” the senior
men’s water polo player said. “I was punished for it
and I’ve since learned my lesson from that incident. You
learn from your mistakes.”
But wherever he has made mistakes in the past, one place Hewko
rarely makes errors is in the pool. He can’t afford to.
Listed at 5-foot-9, Hewko is one of the shortest players to play
attacker and is constantly matched up against defenders at least a
few inches taller than him. He has to make up for his lack of size
by outthinking his opponents and taking advantage of their
miscues.
With at least seven hours a day and four days a week of water
polo practice, Hewko is forced to train even harder.
“He is very undersized for his position,” coach Adam
Krikorian said. “He may be one of the smallest players we
have ever had at attacker. He has had to make up for it with
intelligence, and he has.
“He has become a true student of the game.”
If one person can relate to the difficulty Hewko experiences, it
is Krikorian.
Like Hewko, Krikorian himself was an undersized water polo
player during his career at UCLA. He sees a lot of himself and the
way he played in Hewko.
“I very much relate to him as a player,” Krikorian
said. “But I think I have a few inches on him.
“When I see him playing, I find myself thinking about how
I played. We both have the same competitive fire, and while it may
lead to butting heads occasionally, I’d rather have the
problem of putting out the fire than trying to light it.”
Despite being undersized, Hewko was pursued by some of the top
universities in the country.
If it hadn’t been for two of his brothers, UCLA fans might
be watching Hewko compete for USC. His brothers, who played water
polo for the Trojans, had such a bad experience with the coaching
and program at USC that they tore up all of Hewko’s
recruiting letters from the school before he could even read
them.
“I’m definitely glad I had UCLA chosen for
me,” Hewko said.
“It’s a blessing from God, playing here. Everyone is
enjoyable and everyone on the team is best friends with everyone
else.”
As friends, Hewko and the rest of the Bruin players have one
thing in mind this season ““ an NCAA title.
As a senior in a class that hasn’t won an NCAA
championship, Hewko does not want to let the team down and hopes to
be the leader who returns the Bruins to glory.
“When my class came in here, our goal was to win a
national championship our senior year,” Hewko said.
“It’s really nice to be living that goal out right now.
We just need to keep winning and just not take anything for
granted.”
Last year, Hewko was third on the team in goals, but this year
has been an up-and-down season for him. He has had consecutive
scoreless games as well as a breakout four-goal effort. In either
case, there has always been someone there to pick up the slack.
“We keep winning,” Hewko said. “Last year we
were ranked third at the end, but this year we have definitely
improved. It’s really been a team effort every time
we’ve played. We played lackadaisically at times this season,
but we’ve still come out ahead.
“As long as we win, that’s all that
matters.”
Hewko’s competitive drive has him aiming to win every
match. While his classmates are competitive for grades and
graduation status, Hewko’s competition is solely in the
pool.
Upon arriving at UCLA, he was a pre-med major, but found that
water polo took up so much of his time that there was not enough
left over to focus on the demands of such a major.
“As I see it, I can go to school anytime,” Hewko
said. “But I can only enjoy water polo right now. I only have
the shot to do this once. There aren’t any pro leagues in
America. This is my one chance to compete in a sport at a high
level.”
When he leaves UCLA, Hewko plans to take six months off to
travel in Europe and plans on eventually getting a job in physical
therapy.
Though he could go to Europe and continue playing water polo at
a competitive level, Hewko sees this last season as the ending
chapter in his water polo career.
He would like nothing more than to close it with a
championship.