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Hosted by the University of Florida, Mar. 25th/26th, 2006
Dynamo Water Polo Club launched a “March to the Sea” of its own at the University of
Florida Spring in the Swamp tournament, held last weekend in Gainesville, Florida. The event was
the first of a 6 month campaign to the FINA Masters World Championships,
August 4-12, 2006 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. DWPC added several key players from
across the southeast to their roster for the effort.
DWPC rolled to easy victories over Auburn and UF “B” on Saturday afternoon before squaring off
against UF “A” team, among the best in collegiate club water polo, on Saturday night. Dynamo jumped to an
early, but narrow, lead. Up four at the half, Dynamo played a horrendous third quarter and entered
the fourth quarter down one. Instead of buckling under the constant pressure from the Gators’
offense, Dynamo rose to the occasion and slammed the door, going up by 2 on a penalty shot with just
over two minutes to go in the game.
Sunday morning saw the same two teams line up again, this time with the championship in the
balance. Unlike the prior match-up, this was a close affair throughout. Uncharacteristically,
Dynamo allowed the clearly unbalanced calls of a rookie referee rattle them in the second half.
Despite over 200 years of collective water polo experience, DWPC made the classic rookie mistake and
melted into nothing as the Gators pushed to a comfortable three goal lead late in the fourth quarter.
DWPC scored a late goal to close within two but it was too little too late.
- Dynamo vs. Auburn - Win
- Dynamo vs. UF “B” - Win
- UF “A” vs. Dynamo - Win
- UF “A” vs. Dynamo- Loss (Championship)
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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
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