{"id":276802,"date":"2017-09-08T10:30:46","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T17:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=276802"},"modified":"2017-09-08T18:05:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-09T01:05:25","slug":"catching-up-with-stanford-water-polos-john-vargas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-stanford-water-polos-john-vargas\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching up with Stanford Water Polo\u2019s John Vargas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

In American intercollegiate athletics, there is perhaps no better brand than Stanford University<\/strong>. One of the world\u2019s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, the Cardinal<\/a>\u2014along with Pac-12 rival UCLA\u2014boast the most titles (113) in the history of NCAA competition. But Stanford, affectionately known as \u201cThe Farm<\/a>,\u201d is also the country\u2019s most selective school for academics, making it exceptionally hard to recruit top athletic talent.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s water polo coach John Vargas<\/strong>, now in his 16th season at Stanford (306-97), must constantly strike a balance between athletic success and academic rigor. Despite a graduation rate of 100% and admission standards that eliminate all but the highest achieving students\u2014and often preclude top international players\u2014Vargas’s teams have consistently finished among the nation\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

Last season the Cardinal were a pedestrian 13-8 and finished fourth behind Mountain Pacific Sports Federation<\/a> members Cal, UCLA and USC. Perhaps most galling was that arch-rival Cal captured a record 14th NCAA men\u2019s title while Stanford was left out of tournament play for the second year in a row<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Water Polo Planet<\/p><\/div>\n

2017 promises to be an entirely different season. With five players who redshirted last season\u2014including Olympian Ben Hallock<\/strong> and national team members Drew Holland<\/strong> and Jackson Kimbell<\/strong>, Vargas\u2019s squad, #3 in the current CWPA Men’s Varsity Poll,<\/a> is primed not only to qualify for NCAAs but to capture its first national title since 2002.<\/p>\n

On the pool deck at last weekend\u2019s Bruno Classic, the Stanford coach spoke with Swimming World<\/em> about an early season showdown against MPSF rival USC, incorporating a group of talented redshirts into his current line-up, the incomparable Tony Azevedo<\/strong><\/a>, who Vargas coached to the 2002 NCAA title, the state of U.S. men’s water polo and his relationship with his predecessor Dante Dettamanti<\/strong><\/a>, who coached at Stanford for a quarter century.<\/p>\n

Your schedule includes an unusually early match-up with MPSF rival USC, September 8 at the <\/strong>Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s exciting. If you look at football, we had Alabama vs. Florida State last night. Right off the bat they\u2019re playing big games and it brings great excitement to college football. It\u2019s the same thing with college water polo.<\/p>\n

We usually play on football weekends. Stanford and USC are playing next Saturday, so we ended up having the game changed to Friday because of Pac 12 Network TV.<\/p>\n

As always, there\u2019s a lot of expectations on your team going into the season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s great. We\u2019re a deep team, we\u2019re an older team so we have great depth in all positions. We\u2019re really excited for the season.<\/p>\n

The first thing that we\u2019re always going to focus on is our fitness level. We want to play at a level that allows us to be successful\u2014that\u2019s always primary\u2014and then be fundamentally sound. Once you have that base of fundamentals and fitness, it comes down to scouting these other teams. Each team has a slightly different look, they have different players and we scout and prepare for that.<\/p>\n

You have an Olympian on your roster as well as other players who were not around last year. How will Ben Hallock fit in with the 2017 Cardinal? <\/strong><\/p>\n

He\u2019s been with us for a year because we redshirted Ben as well. It just kind of made sense after all the hoopla of the Olympics to come and knowing that you\u2019re redshirting some of our seniors.<\/p>\n

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Ben Hallock. Photo Courtesy: Stanford Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

Drew Holland<\/strong> and Jackson Kimbell <\/strong>took time off last year to train for the Olympics, so that\u2019s one of the reasons why it made sense to redshirt them too. It seemed like everything made sense to redshirt those guys, so they\u2019re better prepared for the fall.<\/p>\n

The addition of Ben at center changes our scheme and it\u2019s going to change how teams are going to have to play us. That\u2019s one of the bigger adjustments, understanding that other teams are going to throw different defenses at us purely to stop Ben.<\/p>\n

The expectations at Stanford, no matter if it\u2019s an up year down year player wise, redshirting or not redshirting, they want us to win. If you look at all the other athletic programs at Stanford, that has always been the expectation.<\/p>\n

At Stanford, more than any other school in the country, you have to balance academic excellence with athletic success.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are scholar athletes and it can be challenging at times. School is going to start and we know what\u2019s coming up\u2013we talk about it. What are midterms going to look like? How are you mentally going to prepare for water polo while you\u2019re focusing on school?<\/p>\n

Summer is one of the hardest times at Stanford because we are training. Almost all the players are doing internships, taking classes, doing research for professors\u2014they\u2019re busy throughout the entire day. I honestly wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. These are very bright kids who have interesting lives\u2014they\u2019re hardworking and they love water polo.<\/p>\n

And sometimes they stick with polo and end up playing for the U.S. National Team for five Olympics. Talk about your relationship with Tony Azevedo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A five-time Olympian; what are there in the sport of water polo? Maybe 11 or 12 in the world for polo that that\u2019s happen. There\u2019s only one six-time Olympian, Manuel Estiarte<\/strong>. I winked at Tony [and said]: \u201cyou might have six in you! If anyone does it would be you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tony Azevedo. Photo Courtesy: Stanford Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

Tony\u2019s arguably the best water polo player that we\u2019ve ever had coming out of the United States. He won at all levels, from 7th and 8th grade Speedo Cup, all through high school. He led Stanford to a championship final all four years. I thought when we weren\u2019t medaling at the Olympics, the guy that\u2019s going to help us is Tony. And that was 2008.<\/p>\n

Tony\u2019s special\u2014he loves the sport. First Olympics at 18; way back then it was towards the end of Manuel Estiarte\u2019s career.<\/strong> We\u2019re seeing Tony and we\u2019re thinking: \u201cGosh, Tony could be the next Estiarte as far as going to numerous Olympics.”\u00a0 And that was always the thought; how did he keep himself physically fit and constantly improving.<\/p>\n

He was fun to coach because he\u2019s great but hard to coach because he had mastered 90 \u2013 95% of the game. We were looking for that last 5 \u2013 10% to constantly challenge him to get better.<\/p>\n

Tony made a commitment to represent his country\u2014as have two of your current players, Hallock and Holland. You\u2019ve played for the U.S. as well as coached at the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team at the Olympics; what does that commitment entail?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We knew that Tony\u2019s path was multiple Olympics. Drew and Ben may take a slightly different path. Ben could go to two more Olympics, there\u2019s no question, and perhaps three. It\u2019s going to be completely up to him. He\u2019s a serious student, he\u2019s always looking into the future to see what he wants do after school. It will be interesting to see if he actually will go to two more Olympics. That\u2019s just me not talking to Ben about this.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same with Drew; he has the potential for two more Olympics. We\u2019ll see; they have other choices and that\u2019s always one of the tougher things for kids to deal with. They have these other, amazing choices outside of the pool.<\/p>\n

Peter Varelles<\/strong> really had it amazing. He graduated from Stanford, played in the Olympics, then played professionally in Italy for three years. He had an internship at a big-time consulting firm; actually had a job offer from them [but] told them he was going to play professionally. Came back [from Italy], got into Stanford Business School and is now at that firm that he had turned down before, but now with an MBA.<\/p>\n

What you are seeing from an Olympian in any sport is the teamwork, the sacrifice, the effort\u2014of course you want those people working for you.<\/p>\n

You share facilities with arguably one of the best teams in the world on the women\u2019s side\u2014the Stanford women\u2019s team. How does that impact your players?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have an amazing team and it\u2019s great to watch them play. It\u2019s great to have them on the deck\u2014just as amazing as it is to have Katie Ledecky<\/strong> and Simone Manuel<\/strong> there. To watch what they do is impressive.<\/p>\n

To see Katie on the deck daily\u2026 what an amazing student athlete she is. That\u2019s what we\u2019re surrounded by at Stanford.<\/p>\n

How are you able to draw incredible athletic talent from all over the country to The Farm?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the institution, and because of what you can do there academically\u2014I think that\u2019s the biggest draw. This is one of the top universities in the world\u2014why wouldn\u2019t people want to come there? That\u2019s are biggest sell; academics and athletics\u2014you can have it all at Stanford. But it\u2019s going to take hard work.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re looking for are people who are engaged academically and are driven athletically. If you\u2019re one or the other, quite honestly it\u2019s not going to work. If you’re not engaged academically you\u2019re not going to get into Stanford University.<\/p>\n

The admit rate is 4.5%\u2014I might be slightly off on that but it\u2019s under 5%. Sometimes when I\u2019m recruiting kids I have to tell them: \u201cHere\u2019s the flip side; 95% of the people [who apply] are not getting admitted.\u201d It takes a lot to get admitted.<\/p>\n

The other part is: are you a high-level athlete? Because we want to play for championships.<\/p>\n

Stanford is part of the so-called \u201cBig Four\u201d which includes Cal, UCLA and USC. Do you agree that\u2014based upon their success over the last five years\u2014it\u2019s now a \u201cBig Five\u201d including the University of Pacific?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That sounds about right. I wouldn\u2019t want to offend Pepperdine because they won the GCC [Golden Coast Conference] last year\u2014so they\u2019re more than qualified to do well along with UCI [University of California at Irvine]. It looks like they are set up to have a great year.<\/p>\n

If you go back the year before\u2014when all those teams were all still in the MPSF\u2014you might looks to see what the final standings<\/a> were.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just really competitive in both conferences. From Cal, UCLA us and USC to U of P, Santa Barbara, UCI\u2026 it\u2019s great for water polo.<\/p>\n

How much has the arrival of the Golden Coast Conference altered the landscape for MPSF men\u2019s water polo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The purpose of bringing in Penn State was to keep our AQ [automatic qualifier for the NCAAs]. If we don\u2019t have that we lose our AQ. The downside of the split is that there\u2019s the potential to not have the best teams in the country at NCAAs. This is my opinion: at a bare minimum you need three Pac 12 schools there to have a true national championship.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t, then it\u2019s a shame for water polo. We’re not then having a true national championship.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I do believe the split off was good for college water polo. I understand exactly what those schools did. It\u2019s an easier path to get into NCAAs. What would be nice is if we had bracket expansion at the NCAA level so we do have it as a true national championship that ensures that three of the Pac-12 schools are there.<\/p>\n

Based on history; if you look, it\u2019s been the Pac-12 schools that are consistently the best. So you want them there.<\/p>\n

So you agree that change is good for men\u2019s water polo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you have something like that you have to try something different as a coach, take a different approach. We\u2019re not getting the international players that other universities are getting. There are some excellent international players out there that so far we haven\u2019t seen them meet our standards. And it\u2019s not that I\u2019m not recruiting them; I\u2019m constantly looking. We have to recruit worldwide.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re not getting that influx, doing something different, redshirting\u2026 you have to change to make sure you have a legitimate shot at [a title].<\/p>\n

When you look at the current state of the national team, what hopes do you have for our men\u2019s program going into 2020?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the U.S. and how we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re in such a different position than a lot of the European teams. We know that the national team players are young and they need so much more experience. They need big game time experience.<\/p>\n

We are at a disadvantage geographically and the only way to do the best that we can is we have to somehow move our team over there. These kids have to play a lot more games.<\/p>\n

We always want the national team to do well and succeed\u2014because I\u2019m training [their players] as are other college coaches. What\u2019s challenging is for a Stanford student athlete to take time away to train with the national team. Our graduation rate\u2019s 100%, these guys are finishing in four years.<\/p>\n

The only reason they\u2019re not graduating in four years is if they took time off to do national team stuff.<\/p>\n

Your predecessor, Dante Dettamanti, has a lot to say about the current state of U.S. water polo. What is your relationship like with the one and only \u201cCoach D\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s a good relationship. I\u2019m in contact with Dante a lot. He\u2019s talking about the national team and how things are done there; I was the national team coach and I think Dante has some interesting ideas. You always want to listen to other people\u2019s ideas and to see whether or not it works. You always have to be open to different ideas and changes.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I wouldn\u2019t be able to make a comment about the national team because I\u2019m not out there daily to see exactly what going on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor In American intercollegiate athletics, there is perhaps no better brand than Stanford University. One of the world\u2019s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":276807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[47734,63502,1190,27245,52549,479,25031,533,60192,1168,63508,25400,60272,1827,63503],"class_list":["post-276802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-ben-hallock","tag-blake-parrish","tag-dante-dettamanti","tag-drew-holland","tag-jackson-kimbell","tag-john-vargas","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-manuel-estiarte","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-mountain-pacific-sports-federation","tag-peter-varelles","tag-simone-manuel","tag-stanford-water-polo","tag-university-of-pacific","tag-usc-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCatching up with Stanford Water Polo\u2019s John Vargas - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor In American intercollegiate athletics, there is perhaps no better brand than Stanford University. 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