Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo European Tour Update #4
7/2/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
July 2, 2007
Entry by Todd Newcomb, Bucknell Associate AD
For other entries, please click here.
JUNE 29
After a 9:15 breakfast at the hotel, the team walked to the BVSC Club for its last practice session in the city of Budapest. Arriving a half hour earlier than normal at the pool allowed for a lifting session and some dry land workout for the team. Bucknell strength and conditioning coach Jerry Shreck would have been proud of the team's effort, and would have also been very thankful for his beautiful facility in the Krebs Fitness Center back home!
The session, which included some work with the weights and some resistance workout, concluded with a pull-up contest. Johnny Stupp took home the gold with 27 pull-ups, narrowly edging the standard that was initially set by Andrew Nelson at 25.
The team spent the majority of the practice working on man-up and man-down situations with some in-water tutoring from the BVSC coach Gabor Szabo. Gabor was a professional player in Hungary until recently, and is also the coach of Hungary's Junior National Team.
Following the session, the Bucknell players shook hands with all the players from the BVSC Club team and presented them each with a Bison lapel pin as a collectible. Although the language barrier was somewhat difficult, there was a definite sense of camaraderie between the teams following all the work they did together in the pool. We also said goodbye to Miklos Gerendas for now - he will actually be seeing the Bison again next fall when we compete in the SoCal Tournament in Irvine, California.
Upon our return to the hotel we enjoyed yet another delicious lunch and had some time to gather our belongings before setting off to do some final sightseeing in Budapest. Our first stop was a tour of what is called the House of Terror on Andrassy Blvd. Built in the 1800s, this building is now a museum which includes the history of both the Nazi and Communist rule of Hungary and all the terror and killing that came along with it. Our tour guide did a great job with such a large group, and it was a bit overwhelming at times to relive that horrible part of this country's history.
After the tour we began our hike down to the River Danube for our 7 p.m. dinner cruise. Along the way we passed the Opera House and took a closer look at St. Stephen's Basilica - the architecture is simply remarkable. After a group photo in front of the basilica, we continued down to the river and had time for a brief refreshment stop. We then boarded our boat for our dinner cruise and had a wonderful two-hour journey up and down the River Danube. The food was great, the sites were spectacular and the team had some real bonding time. That continued when the entire travel party went out dancing at Cha Cha Chas on Maragite Island. Margarite Island is the site of the upcoming Water Polo World Cup, and the Hungarian National Team has been practicing there the past few weeks in preparation.
JUNE 30
After an early 7:45 a.m. breakfast, the team packed up and left the Hotel Romantik for the final time. A 90-minute bus ride out into the country brought us here to the picturesque town of Eger where we will remain for most of our final days in Hungary. After checking into the Hotel Aqua, we walked to the pool facility and were greeted by a beautiful indoor pool (completed in the year 2000) and a unique outdoor pool. The outdoor pool, built way back in 1925, is fed by a natural freshwater spring, and has a stone bottom.
After a brief warm-up, the team scrimmaged the Eger 18-and-Under Club Team. Several players on that team were members of Hungary's 18-and-Under Junior National Championship team, and they jumped on the Bison right away scoring five unanswered goals to open the game. Jason Rechel finally got the Orange and Blue on the board, but Bucknell could get no closer three the rest of the way, falling 14-11.
Rechel led the Bison with three goals, while Lee Anderson and Alex Lovell each added a pair. Randy Ang, Alex Lampley, Peter O'Keefe and Andrew Nelson rounded out the Bucknell scoring with a goal apiece. Nick Donahue made six saves in net, while Luke Belenky registered five.
We returned to the Hotel Aqua where lunch was ready and waiting for us. After some brief power-napping, we returned back to the outdoor pool to watch some master's players from the Eger Club battle in their annual reunion game before entering the water ourselves for practice. The team swam several long sets and did much conditioning work in the water. We were interrupted briefly by a thunderstorm in the area, but finished the two-hour practice just after 8 p.m. Dinner followed, and most team members called it an early night after a long day of travel and workouts.
JULY 1, 2007
Breakfast this morning was a bit more "Americanized" than what we were used to, and actually included some orange juice, cereal, milk and hard boiled eggs (along with the lunch meat we had been eating previously). We arrived at the outdoor pool by 9:40 ready to stretch and prepare for our scrimmage with the Eger Club team at 10:00. The Orange and Blue came ready to play from the get go and stayed with the Eger team through much of the first half, trailing 10-9 after two periods. But the third quarter proved to be Bucknell's downfall, as the Bison were outscored 5-3 and never recovered in a 17-16 loss.
Alex Lampley played extremely well for the Bison, leading the team with four goals. Jason Rechel continued his fine play, tallying three markers, while Josh Sunday, Johnny Stupp and Mark Masterson each registered a pair of scores. Lee Anderson, Kyle Roslyn and Andrew Nelson added goals to round out the Bison score sheet. Nick Donahue made eight saves in net, while Luke Belenky was credited with three.
The pool session continued for the team after the scrimmage was through with some six-on-five work and some shooting drills. At 1 p.m. the team hit the hot tub before concluding its three-hour session and then returned to the Hotel Aqua for some lunch.
The club drains the outdoor pool each Sunday, and then refills it in time for Monday morning business. We will take advantage of the down time this afternoon, and head out to do some local sightseeing. We enjoyed a tour of the Sport Museum of Eger. It highlights the many aquatic Olympians, both polo players and swimmers, who hail from Eger. One of the most fascinating items in the museum is the ball used to score the game-winning goal for Hungary in the 1964 Olympics.
