Vargas Hopes His Plan Holds Up in Water

NEWPORT BEACH — Five months after officially taking over the U.S. national water polo team, John Vargas is facing crunch time.

In 3 1/2 weeks, Vargas will lead the U.S. team into the FINA World Cup in Athens, facing the best competition the water polo world has to offer. Until this week, the Americans hadn’t competed against anyone other than themselves since the 1996 Olympics.

So even Vargas isn’t sure how well things are coming together. But he is about to find out. “We’ve got to put it all together in the next few weeks,” Vargas said.

The tests start with exhibitions today and Sunday at Corona del Mar High against Croatia, 1996 silver medalist, and Australia. Then Tuesday, the United States begins the six-team Newport International Water Polo Tournament.

Vargas says the tournament field--national teams from Croatia, Greece, Australia, Yugoslavia and Canada--is the strongest in the world this year, next to the FINA World Cup.

So a week from Sunday, when this tournament is over, Vargas should have some answers about where his team stands internationally. Right now, however, the focus is internal.

“We want to win and we want to win big time,” Vargas said. “How do we do that? We have to go back to basics.”

Making Vargas’ task tougher is that the U.S. team hasn’t been practicing together as much as it has in the past. Because of the disappointing seventh-place finish in Atlanta, the U.S. Olympic committee cut back on the program’s funding, and practice time was curtailed.

Now, instead of the 10 to 12 weekly practice sessions the team had in the year before Atlanta, the members are in the pool together an average of four times a week. Also three key players--leading scorer Chris Humbert, two-meter defender Gavin Arroyo and goalkeeper Dan Hackett--have been unavailable because they are playing professionally in Europe.

Humbert has returned from Greece and rejoined the team and Arroyo and Hackett are expected from Spain early next week, but Vargas is eager to have everyone back in the fold.

“Every little practice, every little bit of time we have is just crucial,” Vargas said. “We need everybody here so we can start to jell.”

The players understand the urgency. The top five finishers at the FINA World Cup qualify for the World Championships next January in Perth, Australia.

“For us, the year is really this month,” said goalkeeper Chris Duplanty, a former UC Irvine All-American who has been on three Olympic teams.

Duplanty, one of eight players with Orange County ties on the U.S. roster, said doing well in Athens would help bring back some of the USOC funding lost because of the poor showing in Atlanta. The stipend for national team members has dropped drastically to about $2,500 annually, Duplanty said, making it harder for the athletes.

But it’s not all bad news, Duplanty said. Fewer practices with the team means players must practice more self-discipline.

“There’s no one to hold your hand,” Duplanty said. “That’s the kind of commitment Coach Vargas demands from us and that’s what we should expect out of ourselves.

“There are some positives out of this. It’s not throw up your hands and say, ‘It’s going to be too hard.’ It’s the nature of this thing to be difficult.

“That’s what makes it special.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Newport International Water Polo Tournament

* When: Tuesday-May 11

* Where: Marian Bergeson Aquatic Center, Corona del Mar High School

* Details: Round-robin tournament featuring national teams from the United States, Croatia, Greece, Canada, Yugoslavia and Australia. Today and Sunday the U.S. is playing exhibition matches against Croatia, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist, and Australia.

* Tickets: $8, $4 for students Tuesday through May 10. Tickets for finals May 11 are $10 and $5. Admission to the exhibition matches is free.

* Schedule: Today (exhibition)--United States vs. Croatia, 5:15 p.m. Sunday (exhibition)--United States vs. Australia, 2 p.m. Tuesday--Greece vs. Yugoslavia, 5 p.m.; Croatia vs. Australia, 6:15 p.m.; United States vs. Canada, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday--Greece vs. Canada, 5 p.m.; Australia vs. Yugoslavia, 6:15 p.m.; United States vs. Croatia, 7:30 p.m. Thursday--Canada vs. Yugoslavia, 5 p.m.; Greece vs. Croatia, 6:15 p.m.; United States vs. Australia, 7:30 p.m. Friday--Croatia vs. Canada, 5 p.m.; Greece vs. Australia, 6:15 p.m.; United States vs. Yugoslavia, 7:30 p.m. Saturday--Canada vs. Australia, 2 p.m.; Yugoslavia vs. Croatia, 3:30 p.m.; United States vs. Greece, 5 p.m. Sunday--fifth-place game, noon; third-place game, 1:30 p.m.; championship game, 3 p.m.

* Information: (714) 862-4052