FAST Water Polo fifth, sixth in

The Fallbrook Associated Swim Team (FAST) Water Polo Club’s 14-and-under team is usually a co-ed squad, but since the Junior Olympics stipulate separate boys and girls teams the club split into two squads for the tournament April 24 in La Jolla.

The FAST boys finished fifth in the Junior Olympics, which also gives them second alternate status for the national Junior Olympics, while the girls finished sixth in the tournament.

“We’re just very proud of their play,” said coach Jeremy Piasecki. “We’re just going to continue pushing forward.”

The boys’ record included one win and three losses, but they were an improved team from some of their past games. Their match against Pacific was tied in the fourth quarter before the FAST club lost by two goals. “It was a nail-biter game,” Piasecki remarked.

It was also the first game in which FAST did not lose to Pacific by at least four goals. The team also lost to the Sultan squad by several goals in all of the games prior to the tournament, but the Junior Olympics game between those two clubs was a three-goal loss and FAST was down by only a single goal in the fourth quarter.

“Our kids in general have just come together as a group,” Piasecki noted.

The girls team had never previously played without boys. “Took them until the middle of the third game to figure out how to play together,” Piasecki remarked.

Once that task was achieved, the level of play improved considerably. “The girls were just so excited,” Piasecki noted. “They know that they’re going to be such a good team.”

The FAST Water Polo Club was created when Fallbrook Water Polo merged with the FAST swimming club. That allows the water polo players to utilize swimming practice for conditioning, reducing the conditioning needed for the water polo matches and allowing more focus on water polo techniques. “We’re becoming a better team,” Piasecki said.