St. Mary's Tournament Pictures!!!

Asian Zing at his finest!

I sifted through and found the best tournament photos I took over the weekend. Comment and let me know what you think. The link below will take you to the slideshow!

http://s1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc401/jmuwaterpoloblog/?albumview=slideshow

PS I am currently working on the video compilation! It should be ready by sometime tomorrow!

-Polo Steve

New Zealander Sets Dynamic Apnea World Record!

David Mullen of New Zealand, has just broken the dynamic apnea without fins world record! Dynamic apnea is swimming for distance, underwater, while holding your breath. It is a pool discipline of the more broad category of free-diving. Wikipedia defines free-diving as any of various aquatic activities that share the practice of breath-hold underwater diving. Some other examples include spear fishing, free-dive photography and other apnea activities.

Free-diver with monofin

To put Mullen's record into perspective, the previous mark was set at 213 meters--over two football fields! Mullen just beat the record by swimming 218 meters! Most average humans would have difficulty swimming this distance while taking breaths.

Mullen's next goal is to tackle what Wikipedia refers to as competitive apnea. This is considered an extreme sport where free-divers attempt to swim the deepest depth without any equipment. Mullen's best mark of 118 meters deep is third in the world behind Herbert Nitsch at 124 meters. Referred to as constant weight apnea in competition, while plunging, the diver must follow a guideline without any assistance save for bi-fins or a monofin. The sport is considered extremely dangerous without the proper knowledge and medical supervision. I wonder how our polo players would fare?


Here's the Wiki Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-diving


-Polo Steve

St Mary's Tournament!

Just spoke with coach Chris Ashley and he hopes to see some signs of improvement from his young team. Senior Chad Eskridge emphasized the need to apply techniques drilled in practice. Game time is 1 30 so check twitter for game updates!

-Polo Steve

St. Mary's Tournament Roster!

Tournament time has arrived! Here is the traveling roster straight from head coach Chris Ashley. Check back soon for the depth chart visual. I will be traveling with the team and documenting the trip. Look for tournament photos sometime Sunday. I will also be tweeting in-game updates (@JMUPoloSteve) for everyone that will not be able to make it to the game! No Twitter? No worries, I have linked the account directly to the blog home page on the top right. Good luck Dukes!

• Chris Ashley
• Chad Eskridge
• Doug Newton
• Kurt Clauss
• Paul McGrath
• Blake Richardson

• Peter
• John
• Dan Gallinaro
• Erik
• Felipe

-Polo Steve

Swimming the Channel...

Water polo players, first and foremost need to be adept swimmers. The English Channel is one of the pinnacles of the sport for many swimmers. I came across this story of a person attempting to make the cross. The catch? He lost his arms and legs in an accident and still made it. Here's the story. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-11355367


-Polo Steve

Water polo Olympian Ryan Bailey responds to Ray Lewis' comment...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzH2VydmX3w

I don't know that even Ray Lewis would want to mess with this guy...

Ray Lewis disrespecting water polo??

Apparently, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is causing an uproar in the water polo world. You be the judge. Greg Mescall, associate director of communications for USA Water Polo voiced his opinion in the New York Times link below.

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/ray-lewis-doesnt-know-water-polo/


-Polo Steve

How to use this blog...

If you're reading this you are either a water polo player, a friend or completely lost. Anyways, I appreciate you visiting. I wanted to give people visiting some ideas for using my blog.

Polo players

Let's face it, not many of your friends and family from home and at school have any idea about the sport of water polo. Don't you wish there was a place you could send them to find out anything they would ever want to know? Presto! This is it. I plan to document everything a completely random person that had no idea about JMU's club water polo would want to know!

Friends

Thank you for your sympathy view of my blog. I love you.

Completely lost people

Feel free to leave any suggestions. I am always open to advice and criticisms.

-Polo Steve

Welcome!

Welcome to the definitive source for all things JMU Water Polo! This blog is still under construction at the moment but here is a list of things to expect in the future.

1. Weekly photos

2. Weekly practice updates

3. Periodic highlight videos

4. Live twitter feed of game action

5. Player bios

6. Team updates