The Iowa State water polo team plays in the National Championships this weekend, in its first year as a member of the College Water Polo Association.

The team received the bid after winning the Great Lakes Regional Championship Tournament in dramatic play a few weeks ago.

The ISU team played tremendous defense while lighting up the scoreboard against their opponents, which included St. Mary’s, South Dakota State University and Manchester College.

“Our keys to scoring is good defense,” Adam Swietek, ISU club vice president said. Swietek, a senior in graphic design, plays wingman for the squad.

“We play ball-side defense [and] guard the passing lanes which gets a lot of steals. We’re a fast team with a lot of good swimmers.”

In collegiate water polo, many players contribute to a team’s success. The squad includes a goalie, two drivers, two wingmen, one two-meter man (or whole man) and one point man.

In an attempt to homogenize the sport, the NCAA rules are the same as high school water polo.

“The game is more physical than it was in high school. The NCAA is conservative, but now it is using international rules that the U.S. National teams use. It makes it more simple around the world,” Swietek said.

One player who helped the Cyclones roll through the tournament was Mike Dahm, who plays the whole man position.

Dahm is a freshman in pre-civil engineering. His position, the whole man, is in front of the goal against a defender who is assigned to guard him.

“The whole man is like as center in basketball. [You] get them the ball, and they usually get fouled,” Swietek said.

Dahm said, “It’s more physical in my position. The whole man works the ball more.”

The game is very physical and aggressive because the rules state that the ball can’t hit the water and players can use only one hand.

In addition, all players must stay afloat above the water which is usually seven-feet deep, making the game challenging for the players.

“The biggest challenge is endurance,” Swietek said.

To stay afloat for extended periods of times, players use a special technique called the eight-meter kick.

Swietek said, “Some [players] can play a whole game [using the technique].” He said most players will play for four or five game minutes, which is usually longer than that real time.

The team has an adviser who makes sure they follow NCAA rules, but the squad is coached by a few of the more experienced players.

“Older guys take care of the coaching. We work together as a team. I like it because someone doesn’t look down at us. He is in the water with us and helps with a problem we might have by actually working with it in the water,” Dahm said.

He said it works out well and the older fellas enjoy playing in the water.

The team also works together in the way the officers are elected. The club has a president, vice president and a treasurer.

“There’s no voting. Positions are on a volunteer basis,” Swietek said. “We don’t run the club. We try to have everyone run it together. Everyone has to do their part to make it work — the whole team participates. It helps a lot.”

The team plans to fly to the tournament this week and is currently trying to raise money.

“We are paying ourselves. We don’t get much school funding and are trying to find sponsors. We have a $1,000 budget and are trying to ask local businesses for help,” Swietek said.

Dahm said it is difficult to find sponsors right now. “We hear a lot of people saying that they just gave to Homecoming, etc.,” Dahm said.

He said they also are requesting money from the Government of the Student Body and are selling a limited amount of t-shirts. However, he said most money comes out of the team’s pockets.

The National Championships will be held November 7-9 in Massachusetts.