Summer 2012 Issue - De La Salle Institute

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De La Salle Aquatics:
A DEEP POOL OF TALENTED METEORS
Name a sport in the De La Salle boys
athletic program and you have no trouble
finding success stories both on the team and
individual levels.
Whether it’s baseball, basketball, football,
soccer, wrestling or any of the other sports,
‘Meteors Win!” is not only a rallying cry, it’s
also a statement of truth.
In the spring of 2012, De La Salle was able
to add another team to its list of winners: the
boys water polo team. The Meteors were
10-7 overall and recorded triumphs over
programs such as St. Rita, Mount Carmel,
St. Viator and Lane Tech. De La Salle’s
season ended with a loss in the Illinois High
School Association’s UIC Sectional after
a victory over Whitney Young to begin the
postseason.
Under the direction of head coach Heriberto
Garcia, the young men’s aquatics program
at De La Salle has been in existence for four
years with both the swimming and water
polo teams.
Garcia has been the head coach since the
inception. Garcia also has coached for the
Chicago Park District for the last 15 years.
Omar Gomez ‘15 met Garcia when he began
swimming in seventh grade in the Chicago
Park District program.
“I have learned everything from him,”
Gomez said. “He was my coach when I
started in seventh grade and will be in the
years to come. He taught me how to play
smart and use my head instead of the muscle.
“Before I met Coach Garcia, I was already
thinking of coming to ‘D’ and to me, it was
a perk that came with being a Meteor which
I’m very proud of.”
While he was a competitive athlete, Garcia
was a swimmer and water polo player at
Queens College in New York for four years.
Garcia also coached Queens College’s
grade-school program for three years.
Garcia brought his knowledge and love of
swimming and water polo with him when he
came to De La Salle and helped found the
swimming and water polo initiatives.
“During the first two years (of De La Salle’s
program), people were like, ‘You have a
program’” Garcia said. “Now, people are
like, ‘We heard you have a program and you
guys are competitive.’
“We’ve received plenty of compliments from
parents I know through the (Chicago) Park
District. It’s nice to see this program come
alive. It’s come a long way.”
During the 2011-12 school year, there were
22 young men in De La Salle’s swimming
program and 16 in the water polo program
with teams on both the junior-varsity and
varsity levels.
“The program has grown much stronger,”
Garcia said. “It’s refreshing. The first year
was a thrill to get one win and now four years
later, it’s nice to talk about our potential to go
downstate.”
Helping make that jump much easier is the
depth and variety of the talent pool – pun
fully intended – from which Garcia is able
to draw student-athletes who would like to
attend and swim for De La Salle.
The experience level of Meteor swimmers
ranges from beginners to young men who
have swum at the club level since they were
in grade school. Swimming at De La Salle
has also allowed the Meteors to have high
aspirations for their futures.
One of this year’s top
senior swimmers and
water polo players,
Austin Siegel
‘12, will attend
Louisiana State
University where
he hopes to walk
on to the Tigers’
swimming team.
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Omar Gomez ‘15 competes
against his Lane Tech opponent.
“The best thing about our team is the
diversity,” Garcia said. “We have kids from
Western & Montrose who have swum at
Welles Park and we have Midway kids, we
have Pilsen kids and we have Bridgeport
kids. We go as far west as the I-294 border.
“We’re getting a big pull of kids which is
nice and the kids get to interact with each
other. It’s great to know as a program that
we’re reaching all ends of the city.”
Another Meteor who participates in both
swimming and water polo is Diego Leanos
‘15, who started swimming at age 4 in the
Tiny Tots Learn to Swim Program at Harrison
Park in Chicago. Leanos then moved up to
the Harrison Park swim team when he was
older which led to Leanos beginning to play
water polo in the fifth grade.
While Leanos is one of De La Salle’s more
experienced swimmers, teammate Nathaniel
Gutierrez ‘15 has only been swimming for
about eight months.
“Though I have not been swimming for
long, it still is a very fun sport to do,”
Gutierrez said. “I feel like I am improving
every practice.
“At first, I did not know there was a swim
program before I attended De La Salle,
but after I found out, it was the only sport
I wanted to try out for because I really like
being in the water. It made me realize that
I will stick with swimming for the rest of
my life.”
Goalkeeper John Koziol ‘15 looks to
distribute the ball to his teammates.
10 Feature Story