Catching up with Romania’s Alexandru Ghiban and Dimitri Goanta

Participants at recent East Coast Water Polo Clinic at the Greenwich YMCA. Photos Courtesy M. Randazzo

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor

Greenwich, CT. Alexandru Ghiban and Dimitri Goanta, members of the Romanian men’s water polo team as well as teammates on Steaua Bucharest, Romania’s top professional club, were in Greenwich this past weekend for the first-ever East Coast Water Polo Clinic. Ulmis Iordache, head coach for Greenwich Aquatics, organized the two-day training session to expose local age group players to a higher level of polo instruction.

You cannot get much higher than the 6-8 Goanta and the 6-4 Ghiban, among the best players in their country. Their experience includes representing Romania in the 2014 and 2016 European Championships as well as the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where Ghiban scored four goals and Goanta netted two.

Ulmis Iordach, Alexandru Ghiban, Charlie Owen, Dimitri Goanta

Despite individual success—Cosmin Radu is among the world’s greatest players—the Romanian team did not qualify for the 2017 FINA World Championships currently taking place in Bucharest, providing the team’s players with some perhaps unwanted free time.

Following an eight-hour day working with 60 players ages 8 to 18, Ghiban and Goanta spoke with Swimming World about their impressions of American age group polo, the challenges facing Romania as it looks to compete in the hyper-competitive European polo community, and recent proposed changes to FINA rules for men’s and women’s water polo.

What are your impressions of American youth water polo?

Alexandru Ghiban: This is my first time when I’m here in America. This type of clinic I never see in Romania. This is the first time that I’m working in this type of training camp.

Dimitri Goanta: I’m impressed to see a lot of kids want to come and to learn about water polo. The setting’s really good here; it’s a very nice indoor swimming pool. You do have problems with the temperature; today it was a hot day outside and it would be harder for the kids to train eight hours with the sun. It’s better conditions for this clinic to be indoor.

How does this type of clinic compare to what you experienced growing up in Romania?

Ghiban: The mentality is different. In Europe things that we’re doing [at the participants’ age] are different. This kind of clinic we’re not used to. Usually training camp is two weeks, you go somewhere—it depends upon the vacation of the kids.

We work very hard from the age of 10 – 11 when we start until 18 – 20. We spend a lot of time in the pool. In the morning two hours, in the afternoon again two hours.

For kids that want to grow up [playing water polo]—and here today I see a lot of kids with potential—they need to work hard if they want to succeed in this sport.

The goals for young polo players in the USA are likely different than in Europe; if they can get a scholarship to an American university then they can continue playing.

Goanta: I know that here there is not the professional system like in Europe. But for the college, for the juniors, for the NCAA system it’s very well developed. All the juniors try to be the best in the USA to succeed and go to college.

But they can also continue with the [senior] national team of USA and make a life in water polo because easily they can go to Europe to play after they finish with college. If they love the game they can make a career from this sport.

Despite a difference in size—there’s approximately 20,000 young athletes playing water polo in America—the U.S. and Romania have had similar results (10th place) in the past two Olympic Games.

Ghiban: The total [youth players] in Romania is a few thousand. In the senior leagues, there are eight teams. Four are professional and four are semi-professional with the kids who are going to university and they’re right there coming for practice.

But totally, in the best case we are 800 – 900 players.

Is America going to grow polo by bringing over foreign players and holding training camps like the one this weekend in Greenwich?

Ghiban: These kinds of methods are very good until one age. Also, this system of the college is great. The problem is, USA Water Polo needs to create a league. This would be the best—[it would] not only help the U.S. but it will help also Europe. This might also help with the development of water polo in Australia, maybe in Japan or maybe in China.

In this moment, after they finish college, normally Americans will stop water polo. Only the players that are in the national team are going to play in Europe. Because if you don’t train for 10 months per year you cannot be a professional. And you cannot succeed in a higher level.

It’s wonderful for American players to have you run a clinic in the U.S. but I’m sure you’d rather be in Budapest for the FINA World Championships. What will it take for Romania to qualify in 2019?

Goanta instructing in the water

Goanta: In the last few years nobody invests in Romanian water polo. They stopped developing the juniors. We have problems because nobody is coming from the juniors to the national team. We don’t have power from behind.

How you see and how you know is a lot of old players are still playing for the national team of Romania. We don’t have competition, we don’t have a race inside the team.

We don’t see these kinds of clinics in Romania. I don’t understand why they are not investing more, because we had great results in the past years. We were going to all the world championships—for us it was something normal to have good games there.

It’s hard times for us right now.

Ghiban: In the short-term, we change a lot of players. From the team that went to the Olympic games in London (2012) we are still four or five players. This will probably stay for two – three years until Tokyo qualification. The coach, Dejan Stanojevic, he finds out what there is in Romania. I hope they’ll make opportunities for these kids, because Stanojevic wants to teach them.

I hope they’ll grow up to have a very competitive team and to qualify for next Olympic Games. After that we’ll probably go to the European [Championship] because we’ll have some easy qualification.

After that, if we go to European Championship, we have to finish in the first eight to go to World Championships. This is not so easy in this moment because there are a lot of tough teams, for instance like France, Holland. The Russians have come back. Spain, Germany.

I don’t know if they are at the same level as us but they are in the same group. We need to beat one of these teams.

Long-term—if I’m thinking 10-15 years—we need to make something more for the juniors in Romania. Because if you don’t invest in juniors this sport is going to die in Romania.

You’re very familiar with the Serbian men’s team that is dominating right now. Can anyone stop the Serbs at FINA Worlds?

Goanta: It’s really hard to beat the Serbs in the past years. Maybe Italy can make some problems for them. But I’m not sure because [the Serbians] are really strong.

What about the host Hungarians? Do they have a chance?

Goanta: I don’t think so. They changed not so long ago their coach [Tamás Märcz]. I don’t think he will keep the same players. It’s hard to be competitive with a new coach and a new team in so close time.

But it’s better when you play at home. You have an advantage from the referees, the public, the fans. But I don’t think they will make problems for the Serbians.

What thoughts do you have about the recent FINA rules changes for the Tokyo Olympics?

Ghiban and Goanta do the grip and grin

Ghiban: Yes, I heard about this—it’s only announced one day ago. So, in European Championship, in World Championship, we’ll stay with 13 players. The only big change is that in the Olympic Games we’re going to be 11 and only one goalie. If you keep two goalies, it’s too much.

I don’t know yet if they change the distance of the field. So, this may be the biggest change because also the number of teams in the women’s tournament, they’ll grow up, for sure. It will be ten.

Some compromise needs to be made. I’m not agreeing with [this] but we can do nothing against this. They play maybe a bit with the other rules but they keep this.

I hope they will do the right things to make this sport keep growing.

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