A water polo player will swim the length of the pool over and over, taking bruises and getting drowned by defenders, while still retaining the strength to fire a shot past the goalie.
But at LSU, a grueling journey describes the game not only in the water, but in the resurrection of the sport.
Back in the 1980s, the Bayou Water Polo Club thrived at LSU as a place for students to enjoy their sport around Baton Rouge. The club disbanded in 1992, causing members of the club to travel as far as Houston and New Orleans to continue playing the sport they loved.
But, in 2009, Tony Frey came to LSU as a freshman hoping to bring back water polo, a sport he’d fallen in love with growing up in Houston. At the University, he met Anthony Cane and Chris Thomas, and together the trio went through the paperwork of bringing back the sport that laid dormant for 17 years.
“LSU was always the school I wanted to go to and water polo was always the sport I wanted to play at school,” Frey said. “It just became a matter of wanting to make both of those things happen.”
Since then, the trio has graduated, and LSU water polo has made strides to becoming a larger and more recognized organization at the school. The team went from student organization to club sport in 2012, and the team stretched its number of members to 24, including 10 women.
While Frey, Cane and Thomas founded the team, current club president Ricky Carnicle leads the club today. Carnicle, an economics senior, has played with the team for four years now and watched it grow from diminutive to prominent.
“When I came in, only 10 to 12 other guys would usually show up for practice,” Carnicle said. “It was very small, not very organized and I could tell it still wasn’t put together yet.”
The revival has continued in the number of women on the team. After having only two women last season, that number has grown to 10 and has started murmurs of a possible women’s team.
Kinesiology sophmore Audrey Demand recognizes the opportunity for a team, and has talked to the Collegiate Water Polo Association in hopes of getting a team up and running for the fall semester.
The chance to have their own team astounds Demand and others.
“The chance of a women’s team is very exciting,” junior player Melanie Meisner said. “It’s definitely fun playing against the guys. I mean they challenge us, but I think it’s important for us to have a girls team.”
Last season, the team sported a 2-9 record and finished seventh in the conference but displayed improvement in tournaments in the spring. Head coach Russell Bernstein has preached the fundamentals to his players for this upcoming season, hoping a sound team will lead to a better season.
In the past few years, Carnicle established himself as the top player on the team, displaying a talent most Division I teams would envy. But the allure of building something not there before keeps Carnicle at the school he loves.
“This opportunity that I have to start something at the school and help grow it … I take a lot of pride in that,” Carnicle said. “It isn’t something everyone can say that they did, and that’s why I like staying around here.”
The sport tests its competitors at the most laborious levels. But much like Frey’s efforts, the struggle is ultimately worth all of the effort.
The team opened the season Sept. 14, going 2-2 in a tournament at the University of Houston. Frey managed to catch the tournament, and saw how far the team’s come from what he helped build.
“It was the most nostalgic thing ever, they performed tremendously well,” Frey said. “It feels great that I brought a lot of people together. They’re being physically active. They’re building relationships and accomplishing so much. … The ball’s rolling in more ways than one.”

Gallery • 15 Photos

Angela Major

A member of the LSU Water Polo Club warms up during practice Monday, September 23, 2013 in the LSU Natatorium.