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Whitney Foster, Peter Gordon, Ed Hirsch, John Testa, Ed Opalach, Jerry Mujica and other
"post collegiate" players form the Atlanta WPC, aka Georgia Tech Water Polo. Program grows
rapidly over the next year including large growth of GT undergraduate participation. Atlanta
WPC starts hosting tournaments, including several Zone Championships, and starts to build a
reputation as a great host. ATL WPC sends squads to several USWP Indoor National
Championships ('92, '93). In 1992 ATL WPC becomes the only water polo team in the U.S. sponsored
by PowerBar as part of the company's TEAM Elite program.
More and more GT students join the club and playing time becomes an issue. Knowing that
it was in the best interest of those GT student who wanted to play, ATL WPC moved on to help
start club water polo at nearby Emory University. After just over a year Emory
student participation soars and the "post collegiate" players again decide to move on. In
just over 2 years ATL WPC has been critical in the foundation of three new water polo clubs
in Atlanta: Georgia Tech, Emory (men) and Emory (women).
About the time the ATL WPC was getting ready to leave Emory, Stephen Andreades calls to
see if ATL WPC would want to move to Dynamo, with him as coach. Stephen arrives in Atlanta
and begins coaching at the Dynamo Swim Club and ATL WPC becomes Dynamo WPC. Dynamo WPC
continues to grow in size and stature. Coach Andreades often has 25+ players in the water
at one time. The Dynamo Swim Center is the Water Polo practice venue for the 1996 Centennial
Olympic Games. Legacy to DWPC includes Olympic competition lane lines, ball carries, nets and
referee platforms. Most of these items were purchased at auction by Coach Andreades as the
major water polo equipment (goals, team benches, etc.) were "donated" by ACOG to a SW U.S.
water polo program. Many DWPC players are 1996 Olympic Games water polo volunteers
(competition, results, athlete services, etc) and have a great time.
Dynamo WPC hosts the first PowerBar Cup in 1998 and is the leader in a two-year effort
to launch the Southern Water Polo League (open men) in the SE Zone. Dynamo WPC starts the
Georgia Water Polo League in 1999. 1999 sees Dynamo WPC help start the fifth water polo
program in the metro area, The Atlanta Rainbow Trout. Dynamo WPC players accept head
and assistant coaching positions with Georgia Tech (Frazier Anderson) and both Emory
programs (Rob Swingle and Meg Trexler with the Emory Women and Mike Chester with the Emory Men).
After the conclusion of a very successful 1999 PowerBar Cup, Coach Andreades leaves Atlanta
to become head coach of an aquatics program in East Georgia.
Great change was in the air for Dynamo WPC in 2000. Without a coach for the first time in 5 years
the athletes struggled to run their own program again. Participation numbers dipped a bit as
everyone adjusts to the new “coach yourself” environment.
In early 2000 Dynamo Swim Center covered the outdoor 50 meter pool with the unique
"Dynadome" structure. Goodbye Speedo tans but hello year-round access to all meters, all
deep pool time! The PowerBar Cup grows every year, and becomes the SE Zone's most-entered open
men's tournament (The 2001 PBC turned away 12 teams).
Dynamo WPC continues to be one of the most recognized and active clubs in the SE. Former
DWPC player Rob Swingle turns his coaching hobby into a career with the Emory women’s team.
Emory quickly becomes a very competitive club program. DWPC player Ed Opalach becomes Emory
men's team head coach in 2001.
Led by Manny Torres, a core group of DWPC athletes rebuild a stable environment, then move
the club to new heights.
The PowerBar Cup continues as a highlight of the annual calendar and sometimes serves
as the USWP SE Zone Championship tournament. DWPC reinstates its spring/early summer home
tournament and begins more active scrimmage and joint practice sessions with Atlanta Rainbow
Trout, UGA and GT.
In 2006, DWPC began to compete in “masters” (ages 30+) water polo tournaments in addition
to their regular schedule. The “Dynosaurs” first year included a fantastic trip to the
FINA Masters World Championships.
DWPC athletes serve as head coaches at UGA (Ed Opalach) and Georgia Tech (Torres). Led by
Mark Lefkow, DWPC also helps restart the Pace Academy (high school) program, start Wheeler
H.S. (east Cobb County) and conduct a variety of annual youth clinics. DWPC also began work
with the Georgia Games to add water polo to their competitive schedule.
Contact the club with more
information regarding the history of Dynamo Water Polo. There are many holes in this story
to fill!
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Latest Headlines:
5/9/10 - Results from Dynamo's appearance at the Cinco de Mayo Invitational in Tampa have been posted.
Cinco de Dynamo
4/27/10 - Pictures from Dynamo's competitions at the 2010 Dogwood Invitational are available.
Dogwood Pics
4/25/10 - The stormy weather cleared over Saturday night and Dynamo sprinted off against N.C. State under sunny, windy conditions Sunday morning. At stake: a spot in the 5th place game against the winners of the Florida Gators/Ohio Squirrels game. True to form, DWPC started slowly against the Wolfpack. The second quarter started with the score tied at 3-3. Sean "Wild Berry" Fitzgerald won the sprint (he was 4-4 in the game). DWPC worked the ball to Stu Sheldon on the lefty wing while Chris "Hairy Spider" Sirras set strong-side 2meters. Stu put the ball right in and Chris efficiently finds the back of the net with just 15 seconds off the clock. Dynamo notched two more and held NCSU scoreless to finish the first half 6-3. State capitalized on several Dynamo gaffs on defense to climb back into the game in the third but never got within 1. High school senior Alex "Baby Dynamo" Olbrych added great counter-attack swims to his good weekend of defense and score three of his four break-away shots in the second half. Paced by Olbrych, Dynamo pulled ahead by as many as five goals and prepared for the 5th place game. On the other side of the tournament brackets, UF and the defense-minded Ohio Squirrels squared off to determine which team advanced to face Dynamo WPC. The Dynamo squad watched with great interest as they refueled with PowerBars and PowerBar Recovery drink. With a former USA National Team-er in goal, the Squirrels held the score down until halftime. As much as the Ohio team tried to go nuts on offense, the Gators seemed always able to clamp down and took control in the third. After their win over the Squirrels, UF informed tournament officials they would forfeit the 5th place game. UF started finals on Monday and the Gators had an 8 hour drive to complete. Dynamo left Knoxville 5th out of 14 teams, proud of their 1 loss, to Ohio University in round-robin play, in what may have been the best game of the
tournament. 
4/10/10 - Dynamo Water Polo Club continued a busy April travel schedule with the Spring in the Swamp tournament in Gainesville, FL. As always, the team looked forward to a weekend of sunshine in the Gators' outdoor pool in the shadow of "The Swamp," the UF football stadium.
Dynamo won its first two games against UF and the Tampa Thunder. The game against Thunder was a close one, with a number of lead changes as both teams searched for control of the match. Dynamo utility player Tim Hansen put away the winning goal in the final seconds of regulation time.
Dynamo lost 10-7 to the Central Florida Suns in the semis. In the third place game, Dynamo beat cross-town friends from Georgia Tech.
Dynamo closes out April at the Dogwood Invitational in Knoxville, TN in two weeks. The UT trip is the third away tournament of the month for DWPC.
Too Much Sun in Swamp
6/17/09 - The USWP Masters National Championships has been announced for June 10th - 12th, 2011. The event will be hosted at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center.
To learn more or to reserve your team's spot in the event, please register for the 2011 Masters Nationals Email List.
2011 Masters Nationals
Past headlines...
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