West Newsmagazine 5-22-19

34 I SPORTS I
May 22, 2019
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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By WARREN MAYES
One day, Marquette junior Simon Hermansen
“just showed up for practice” for
the Mustangs water polo team.
To this day, Coach Tim Mosby is glad he
did.
“He came to tryouts,”
Mosby said. “He participated
in swimming
in the fall, too. [I] didn’t
know about him until the
swim coach [Joe Schoedel]
told me about him.”
Hermansen ended
the water polo season
as one of the Mustangs’
top players, scoring 127
goals and 36 assists for
290 points.
Hermansen is also an
exchange student from
Risskov in Denmark, where he previously
played water polo and swam competitively.
Prior to coming overseas, Hermansen
went through a process that included an
examination of academic and financial
qualifications and multiple interviews.
However, Hermansen isn’t the only one in
his family to have experienced the process.
His 21-year-old brother also previously
traveled to the U.S. as an exchange student.
“I like to experience new cultures and I
was the one who chose to do it,” Hermansen
said.
However, Hermansen said the destination
of Chesterfield and Marquette High
was random and that he “knew close to
nothing about St. Louis” before arriving.
“I’ve gone to the Arch and I thought it
was an amazing experience,” Hermansen
said. “The view from up there was awesome.”
Hermansen also said he’s been warmly
received.
“There’s a stereotype that Americans are
very friendly towards strangers and all I
can say is that it was also the case for me
when I was here,” Hermansen said.
The welcome extended to his new
school. After first arriving at Marquette,
Hermansen started swimming during the
fall boy’s season. Through the program,
he also learned about the school’s water
polo team through connections in his host
family.
“Simon got set up through the exchange
program with a family who just happened
to have one of my girls’ team swimmers,”
Schoedel said. “The mom reached out to
me last summer to let me know that they
were hosting an exchange student who was
a water polo player, and maybe I could talk
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Denmark’s Hermansen shows
water polo skills
Hermansen
him into the swim team to stay in shape
for polo.”
Hermansen took part in several events
and said swimming with the Mustangs was
“a fun experience.”
Hermansen ended up finishing first in
the 50 freestyle, 100
breast and 200 freestyle
relay. He also qualified
for the Class 2 state meet,
where he finished 10th in
the 50 free with a time
of 21.86 seconds and
finished 10th in the 100
breaststroke in 1:02.10.
“Swimming isn’t his
first sport,” Schoedel
said. “He swam competitively
when he was
younger in Denmark but
quit a few years earlier
to focus on polo.”
After experiencing both sports, Hermansen
opted to stick with the latter.
“I quit competitive swimming when I
was 12,” Hermansen said. “The reason
I didn’t quit water polo was that I find it
more interesting, more things going on.”
After showing up for water polo practice,
Mosby saw Hermansen’s skill the moment
he was in the water.
“In the first practice, [he] was hitting the
corner of the goal from far out,” Mosby
said. As a result, Mosby played Hermansen
at multiple positions, including driver and
at the 2m mark.
“I don’t really have one position that
I have each game,” Hermansen said. “It
depends on who we are playing and where
the team needs me the most. My biggest
strength is probably my game knowledge.
Besides that, I’m 6’5” and left-handed,
which are both things that are good to have
in water polo.”
Ultimately, Hermansen also credited his
teammates for the Mustangs success.
“My team has, for sure, helped me
achieve this many goals,” Hermansen said.
Aside from an April shoulder injury near
the end of the season from overuse, Hermansen
spoke highly of his teammates and
the season overall.
“This season was overall a good experience,”
Hermansen said. “I enjoyed it a lot,
and my team consisted of a bunch of fun
and nice people.”
At the end of May, Hermansen will
return to Denmark to finish schooling.
Mosby said Hermansen will be missed.
“Teammates love his quiet sense of
humor,” Mosby said. “He was a good student.
He got along with teammates and
was our best offensive player.”