BROOKLYN, N.Y. — St. Francis College Brooklyn is posting a a series of interviews with St. Francis men’s water polo players by journalist Michael Randazzo as the Terriers prepare to open the 2018 season at Brown University’s Bruno Classic on Saturday, September 1 against Pepperdine University.
If there’s one player on the Terriers who epitomizes the grit, desire and pure joy of playing polo, it’s junior attacker Will Lapkin. Out of the pool, he’s a proverbial fish out of water, a bundle of compressed energy. In the water, his ability to pirouette for a seemingly impossible pass or strike a hard, accurate shot from an impossible angle make him one of St. Francis’ most dangerous offensive threats—a fact underscored last year by Lapkin’s selection to the All-Northeast Water Polo Conference First Team.
Thanks to an education at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, boasting one of the nation’s best polo programs, he enjoys a wealth of friendships that dot the sport’s collegiate landscape, reinforcing polo’s band of brothers’ aspect.
Swimming World’s Michael Randazzo spoke to Lapkin on the St. Francis pool deck at the start of practices for the 2018 season.
– Your summer was spent how…?
Going to the beach. Training with friends. Hiking. Sleeping. Playing video games.
– Ha! Are you a Fortnite guy?
I’m a bit of a Fortnite guy (Laughs).
– Here we are in the beautiful St. Francis pool. What do you look for this season?
A championship. We have so many players here right now, we’re just looking to build the team and get in the best shape possible. We’re going to swim a ton and get to know each other as much as possible because there are so many new guys.
– What will it take to integrate new players to a Terrier team with a depth of experience?
With all the new guys this year it’s about including them. [Coach] Bora emphasizes when we’re in the pool we speak one language—so that we are all on the same page.
When you go home you can speak whatever you want. [It’s about] including those [new] guys and showing them how to lead and how to be leaders themselves, so when they are upperclassmen they’ll know how to do it.
– Last season, injuries derailed a great start to conference play. How can you avoid this in 2018?
Stretching 15 – 20 minutes before every single practice. We stretch before weights. Our weight coach Mo [Bernard] has been helping us; she’s started stretch classes so that we can loosen up our bodies to avoid injuries.
– Your season starts with a bang; the Bruno Classic where you’ll face Pacific and Pepperdine and then the Tiger Invitational at Princeton where you’ll play Stanford and UCLA.
Keeping a positive attitude, no matter what people say. We obviously have a smaller pool than all the other guys—that means we don’t get a huge space to train in.
We do what we can and work very hard. We’ll come ready to win.
All my friends from back home are on those teams and I’m kind of tired of hearing it from them. I want to win.
– What sort of expectation do you have for yourself coming into the 2018 season?
I want to put myself out there as a leader. As our coach says, the most important part of this team is guys stepping up and leading in the pool.
Release courtesy St. Francis College Athletics Communications
