ALEX KERR | staff writer
APU’s water polo and swimming & diving teams are continuing to make strides in the ongoing effort to jump-start the new aquatics program beginning next Fall. Head coach Robert Fleming, the driving force behind the Cougars’ newest sports, has begun recruitment for the two women teams. Water polo try-outs will be held tomorrow at the Citrus College pool, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and are open to all students with previous team experience. High school students previewing APU that weekend are also invited to attend. Water polo try-outs will include a scrimmage, throwing, timing on the 50-yard swim, and will also involve a written component, a process Fleming has created since beginning his coaching at APU.
Everyone interested in joining the team will be asked to describe, in writing, why they chose to come to APU. Athletes will also be required to take a Myers-Briggs personality test in order to ensure the most effective communication possible between coaches and athletes. “A lot of the better water polo players have stronger personalities, and a lot of the time they’ll have trouble with authority fi gures or being told what to do, so if you just switch the wording of what you need to tell, it clicks with them and they’re good,” Fleming said. “If we see that there is defi nitely going to be a personality confl ict, we’ll want to change the approach we do with that person.”
Tryouts will not be held for the swimming & diving team, and students interested in joining should contact Coach Fleming with information on previous experience and swimming times. Captains for both teams have been selected, with Lindsay Kimball heading up the water polo team, and Lauren Wichhart for swimming.
Members of both teams will be provided with sweats, bags, swimsuits, goggles, caps, and other training equipment. However, a fundraiser will be held for extra expenses. The aquatics program is expected to host a golf tournament at the Glendora Country Club in the coming months. A date and time have yet to be worked out.
While positions on the teams are open to high school, APU, junior college, and four-year university students, Coach Fleming hopes to send a strong message to potential incoming athletes.
“If you’re coming to APU just for the athletics, you’re coming for the wrong reason,” Fleming said. “We want you to realize that this is a Christian university. We need to have you want to be here, then we’ll help you with water polo and swimming.”
He also stressed that academics will be held as a priority for both teams. “I’m a very competitive person, I’ve always realized that, so I don’t impose that on my athletes,” Fleming said. “School comes before athletics.”
Fleming has coached the aquatics program at Citrus College for the past 12 years, and it was through a chance encounter with President Jon Wallace at the Citrus pool that the Owls’ coach ended up at APU.
“I met Jon Wallace just because he started working out,” Fleming said. “At fi rst I didn’t know he was the president of APU. I talked to him and thought, ‘Wow, this is really a neat guy.’”
In an effort to ease the teams’ start up process, as well as raise awareness for the sports, Fleming will be hosting a BBQ at his home for the water polo and swim team. It will be held tonight at 6 p.m., and is open to anyone interested in joining the aquatics program. Contact Coach Fleming for further information.
Practices for the water polo team will be held at Citrus College, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Due to scheduling confl icts with Citrus’ own aquatics program, swim team practices will be held at the Glendora Country Club, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“Glendora Country Club is very excited about having APU be a part of their establishment,” Fleming said. “We’re still looking for other facilities in the future to make it easier to get both teams together in the same spot.”
