A mixture of students from TCC, former TCC students and members of local swim club Swim Nation gathered at the NE Campus pool Feb. 19 for a game of water polo.

For people who have never seen water polo, it quickly becomes obvious how tiring a sport it is. When players are not swimming to the ball or to defend the other team, they are treading water. They get no rest.

When measured on a scale of one to 10 of how tiring the sport is, it easily ranks eight to 10, said NE student Ron Sparkman.

The intensity of the sport is what draws Alyssa Bologna, who attended TCC from 2007 to 2009, to water polo. She describes it as a combination of “basketball, wrestling and soccer in 12 feet of water.” A self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, Bologna says she “can’t get that adrenaline rush anywhere else.”

Chris Van Haasen, who currently works as a lifeguard at TCC, shares Bologna’s attraction to the sport’s intensity.

Although it may not be as obvious as football or other traditional contact sports, Van Haasen said water polo is considered a contact sport.

The difference is that most of the contact occurs under the water. Van Haasen describes the game as a fast-paced version of soccer in the water and said teamwork is the key to success.

— Troy Bassett