It’s surprising that Cristiano Mirarchi and Aimone Barabino are practicing with the UCLA’s men’s water polo team at Spieker Aquatics Center as it prepares for the NorCal Tournament. After all, there are a lot of perks that come with being a professional water polo player in Europe.
You get to go up against the top water polo competition in the world, practice and play in state-of-the-art facilities, and have living arrangements provided by your club team. It doesn’t hurt that you can make a modest, tax-free income on the side.
That could have happened for either of the two, but neither decided to go that route. Mirarchi and Barabino are both in Westwood now, and the Italians will look to make an immediate impact.
Both have been mainstays as attackers for the Italian junior national team for years, and they have each had success with their respective Italian club teams.
Mirarchi, from Rome, captained the junior national team and even made three appearances for the senior team. UCLA coach Adam Wright and Mirarchi’s father became friends while Wright was playing professionally, which is one of the main reasons Mirarchi decided to come to UCLA.
“I’ve known Adam since when he was playing in Italy,” Mirarchi said. “He’s a great coach. I really think he can help me.”
In addition to playing for the junior national team, Barabino, a native of Recco, Italy, was one of the top players on his club team, R.N. Camogli, helping lead it to gold at the Italian Championship each of the last three years.
A pro contract was in the near future for both, but it wasn’t worth giving up an education.
“I think that coming to the U.S. to play is a good thing because I can play and also study, where in Italy it’s very difficult to play and study too,” Barabino said.
“It’s pretty unique,” Wright said. “It says a lot about them, that they want to come here and get an education first and also continue their water polo career.”
Both had lived on the East Coast for short periods of time ““ Mirarchi in Connecticut, Barabino in New York City ““ but they’re living in Los Angeles now, where the water polo and weather are both better.
It is a long way from home in Italy, but it helps that Mirarchi and Barabino, who met five years ago, have each other. And there is a familiar face back on UCLA’s pool deck that can help them out.
Fans of the team still remember Krsto Sbutega. Born in present-day Montenegro, he moved to Italy at a young age and went through the Italian junior club water polo circuit, just like Mirarchi and Barabino.
In 2004, Sbutega showed up at UCLA with little fanfare. Five years and 143 goals later, he left with the fifth-highest scoring total in the history of the program.
He’s back at UCLA to start his graduate studies and serve as a student manager for the team. One of his priorities so far has been to help the young Italians get acclimated to life in Westwood. He knows why they made their decisions, because it wasn’t so long ago that he did the same thing.
“For them as well as for me, it’s more a future career kind of choice, in terms of professional life, because this is the best way,” Sbutega said. “It’s not to get better water polo, it’s the best way to get (water polo and an education).”
He capitalized on the academic strength of UCLA and picked up a degree in mechanical engineering. But before he found success in the classroom and in the pool, he had to figure out how to adjust on his own.
Sbutega remembers having to get used to the early hours of morning practice, saying that waking up at “6:45 (a.m.) is almost unheard of in Europe.” And on double days in the preseason, he would sometimes log up to seven hours in the pool practicing.
“I don’t think I had ever done (that) before I came here,” he said.
“When school starts, it actually makes it easier for everything else,” he added. “Practice load is down, but then you get excited because you see all these people around campus. It makes your day go by faster and easier.”
One thing that won’t be a problem for the two Italians is a language barrier. They’re both already almost fluent in English, and two fluent Italian speakers in Sbutega and Wright are always nearby to make sure everyone is on the same page.
“It can help,” Mirarchi said. “Sometimes we can’t understand maybe some tactics because they’re a little bit different. Even like the name of the positions. So (having Sbutega and Wright) is easier for us.
“Some of (our teammates) have picked up Italian,” he added with a laugh.
Mirarchi and Barabino won’t get the benefit of a redshirt year, like Sbutega had. They’re the only two freshmen in UCLA’s 13-man recruiting class who won’t sit out this year.
There isn’t a shortage of attackers, but both will find ways to contribute throughout the year.
“We know what the team needs from us,” Barabino said. “We can give a lot to the team.”
It showed in the season opener. In UCLA’s 12-4 victory over Concordia on Sept. 11, they made their presence felt. Mirarchi had two goals, while Barabino added one.
With as much experience as Mirarchi and Barabino have between them, it’s not hard to imagine that they could each make as big an impact as Sbutega did. But they both understand the big picture: UCLA fell one game short of a national championship last year, a match Barabino got to see in person.
Now, the expectations are higher, which they understand.
As for what they want to accomplish in their time in Los Angeles?
Barabino held four fingers up.
“Four rings,” he said with a smile.