BY Chad Ozz
www.ChicagoRiptide.com
This year's 2004 International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics ( IGLA ) championship was hosted by the Nadadores of South Florida in Ft. Lauderdale Oct. 6-11.
The tournament was held at the International Swimming Hall of Fame. The facility included two 50-meter competition pools and a dive well. This was the same venue that hosted the USA Swimming Summer Championships in August of 2002, along with many other swimming, water polo and other events over the years.
The 2004 IGLA Championship had 16 water polo teams from around the world and Chicago Riptide was seeded 12th out of the 16 teams. Teams were represented by: USA, Montreal, Paris, London, Australia and Amsterdam and presented a great challenge to Chicago Riptide. The championship tournament was broken into four groups. Each team played each other in their grouping and then respectively played the other groups.
Chicago Riptide brought 13 players and one coach to the 2004 Championship tournament. Our stand-in coach John Godoy from Toronto did an incredible job coaching the team and teaching us so many valuable and needed skills and plays. Also joining us from the Toronto Triggerfish where two players: Mac Steele and Marshall Schnapp. We were very grateful to have them join us and they also were happy to be given a chance to play with Chicago Riptide. Representing Chicago Riptide were myself and Adam Parker, Jeremy Voigt, Jessica Rodriguez, Juan Ramirez, JR ( Juan Regalado ) , Meri Guerra, Michael Geier, Mike Ramirez, Miles Underwood and Yuly Joblanski ( Norma Ramirez ) , who was our goalie for the entire tournament.
Chicago Riptide played six games throughout the entire tournament. The first three games were considered 'pool play' and were for placement for the following three games, which were considered 'tournament play'.
Our first game on Thursday was again Montreal Igloo ( seeded 5th ) and we lost 12-2. Mike ( 1 ) and Mac ( 1 ) put the two points on the board for us. Although it was a tough loss for us, Montreal was an outstanding team and ended up taking the bronze medal in the Championship tournament playoffs, so it was understandable that we had a tough time against them. We were able to learn from our mistakes, regroup and learn many new defensive drills that would help us out later in the week.
Our second game on Thursday was against the Seattle Otters ( seeded 4th ) and we lost 15-1, luckily Juan was able to put our only point on the board for this game. Although we were working towards putting more points on the board, we did have a great time playing against this team. Seattle was a great group to play against and should have received a sportsmanship award for their participation and interaction with the Chicago Riptide players both in and out of the pool. This game we were able to perfect many of our defensive drills. At this point in the week, we only had 10 of our players due to travel arrangements.
Our third game on Friday was against Gay Swim Amsterdam ( 13th ) and we lost 9-4. This was a much better game and we also had the addition of a couple of our players who had flown in the night before, so we had more subs on the bench and were able to start to put together a better game. Scoring during this game were Mike ( 2 ) , JR ( 1 ) and Jeremy ( 1 ) . It was a great game and the scoreboard doesn't reflect it justly.
At this point in the tournament, Chicago Riptide was placed 4th in our grouping and then was scheduled to play the other 4th-place teams from the other three groups during 'Tournament Play'.
Our fourth game on Friday, and first game in tournament play, was against Atlanta Rainbow Trout-B ( 16th ) . This is where Riptide was able to show the tournament how we really can play the sport. We were able to achieve our first win of the tournament with a score of 10-2. Scoring points from Mike ( 2 ) , Juan ( 1 ) , Marshall ( 1 ) , Michael ( 2 ) , Jessica ( 2 ) and JR ( 2 ) . This was an outstanding game and it was a great feeling to walk away with our first win.
Our fifth game on Saturday was against San Francisco Tsunami-B ( seated 10th ) and lost 2-1. This was probably one of the most exciting and exhausting games that Chicago Riptide has ever played. Our one point was achieved by Juan ( 1 ) . Norma did an incredible job defending the goal with the help of the entire team with our strong defense.
Our sixth game on Saturday was against London Out to Swim ( 11th ) and won 6-5. This again was a very tight game and the winning score was achieved in the final two seconds to gain us our second win in tournament play. Scoring points were achieved by Mike ( 3 ) , Juan ( 1 ) , Marshall ( 1 ) and JR ( 1 ) .
In the end, Chicago Riptide placed 14th overall in the 2004 IGLA Water Polo Championships.
