Team? Check. Coach? Check. Pool? Check. The men's water polo team is back in town and ready for the competitive season ahead.
Last year, the team entered its season with a brand-new coach and a condemned pool. After months of traveling for every practice and game, the men finished the season 20-11, placing sixth at the Eastern Championships and finishing at No. 20 in the national ranking.
This year the men are back, ranking in at No. 19 in preseason, with six of their seven starters returning, a working pool and their toughest game schedule yet.
"We've been training harder than I think I've ever trained in my life," Mike Gartner '09 said. "Our goal is to win Easterns."
Gartner, who scored 74 goals last year to become the Bears' top scorer, plans to lead this year's team with fellow seniors Nico Fort '09, Grant LeBeau '09 and Hank Weintraub '09.
"It's really nice because Grant, Hank, Nico and I have been playing together for so long now," Gartner said.
"We don't really need to talk to each other in the pool; we just know when someone wants the ball or where they will be. We have great chemistry."
Head Coach Felix Mercado said he is also excited to see what his seniors can do.
"All four of our seniors are looking to leave everything out there and finish up their college careers with a bang," Mercado said.
In addition to their stellar senior lineup, the Bears picked up seven new freshmen, including Gartner's younger brother Marcus Gartner '12.
The team also boasts a star-studded sophomore class, with big scorers Gordon Hood '11 and Corey Schwartz '11.
"I am most excited probably about our schedule," Goalie Kent Holland '10 said.
"We have a really difficult schedule but I think we are up for the challenge."
Some of the highlights of this schedule include a matchup against No. 3 Stanford this Sunday at the Princeton Invitational and a trip out to California in the middle of October to face No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 UC Irvine.
In addition to taking on big teams from out West, the Bears will face No. 10 Navy and No. 12 St. Francis, two schools they came very close to beating last year.
The Bears also have a few "home games" at Wheaton College on the horizon, where they plan to bring bus-loads of fans.
"This year is a huge opportunity to set a standard for the future," Gartner said.
"Hopefully that will carry on after I graduate," he added.
The Bears will open their season this Friday against No. 17 Cal Baptist at MIT and then head to the Princeton Invitational for the rest of the weekend to take on No. 15 Santa Clara, No. 20 Princeton, No. 3 Stanford and Johns Hopkins.
