A New Look at Blodgett

A long shadow falls over Blodgett Pool at this time of year. Two long shadows, in fact, of the two best men's water polo players in Harvard history.

But peek around the ghosts of June graduates Dave Fasi and Steve Munatones, and you'll find a new coaching staff, a new offense, a bunch of new players and a whole new attitude.

Swimming Coach Joe Bernal is at the helm, and he's not looking back.

"I'm so excited about this season," the seventh-year swimming coach says of his new charges' prospects. "It's going to be fun, it's going to be exciting."

For Bernal, who replaces Steve Pike at the helm of the five-year-old varsity program, it's going to be a return to the sport he coached at New York's Fordham University before coming to Cambridge.

And one thing it's not going to be is boring. Gone is the deliberate, disciplined offense keyed on big guns Fasi and Munatones, replaced with what Bernal calls "a dynamic, explosive offense--as soon as we get the ball we're going to be off and driving."

He's confident in his players' ability to adjust to the fast break: "I would never have agreed...to take on coaching the team if I didn't think they had made a legitimate effort to do the things that will make them have credibility as a team," he says.

Bernal's arrival has given the program the credibility it lacked at the Athletic Department during its naiscent years. With one of Harvard's most respected coaches at the helm, the aquamen will no longer spend long hours trying to get pool time and support from the Department.

To help out the new run-and-gun attack, Bernal has mustered up some swimmers, and they're in the process of learning the basics while the returning aquamen master quicker offense and more aggressive defense.

"We won't be dirty but we will be tough, and we won't be intimidated by anyone," Bernal predicts.

Five-year assistant Peter Lansbury says he's looking forward to a faster squad taking "lots more risks." He's been joined in assisting Bernal by former UCLA water polo standout Brian "Boogie" Black.

And in the water, Harvard has its own standouts, and Bernal says he's trying to give them a sense that there can be more than two offensive stars. "Every one of those guys are going to be Steve and Dave out there," he says.

The most likely successors to those roles, though, are the four returning starters. In goal, senior Brian Graham will help quarterback the offense and carry a big share of the defensive burden.

A lot of everything rests on senior Captain Adam Button, who sparks the offense and plays fierce man-to-man defense. "I think he's in better shape now than he was last year--at the end of the season," Bernal says.

Other familiar faces include Bruce Novis, a returning starter at wing, and junior Rob Strauss, who ignited the offense in Friday night's 12-11 loss to Iona.

The aquamen look like a second-half team for the moment, and with enough things coming together at the right times they could challenge at tournaments--especially Easterns--in October and November.

So the one big question remaining is when the products of the restructured Harvard program will be able to say they beat perennial foil Brown.

Bernal grins and points out, "Nothing's to say we may not beat Brown this year."