On the Cusp of an Olympic Dream

Merlo among 15 vying for 13 spots on U.S. men's water polo squad

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Rick Merlo is this close to achieving his dream of playing water polo in the Olympics.

Merlo, a 2000 Buchanan graduate, is one of 15 members left on the U.S. Olympic men's water polo training team, after surviving the June 11 cut from 18 to 15. The final cut, June 30, will reveal the final 13-man team.

"I'm on the bubble," said the utility player, who played two-meter defense in high school. "If I make it, I'll be the 11th, 12th guy on the team. Nothing's secure for me yet."

Merlo, a 2005 UC-Irvine graduate, has played professionally in Italy for two years, and said the hardest adjustment has been the mental game.

"Going from high school to college, the biggest difference is strength and speed," said Merlo, whose younger brother, Curt, followed him to Irvine. "From college to international, the difference is being able to read the field. Intelligence. Everybody's fast, strong and also smart."

Improving himself at the game is nothing new for Merlo, according to Buchanan swim and water polo coach Dave Pickford, who was the Bears' head swim and assistant water polo coach when Merlo attended.

"As a junior, he struggled at two-meters," Pickford said. "He would do well against weaker teams, and hold his own against the teams we were supposed to beat. But as a senior, he blossomed. Nobody could stay with this guy.

"It was all the hard work he put in. He learned all he could about the two-meter. And by the time he was a junior or senior at Irvine, guys were having trouble keeping up with him."

As a Bear, Merlo wasn't all that interested in the swimming aspect, but worked at it anyway.

"A lot of kids come out of the Valley, and they consider themselves good water polo players, but ignore the swimming part," Pickford said. "He just realized how important swimming was, and he worked hard."

Merlo, who tried out for the youth national team as a high school player but missed the cut, said he's dreamed of playing in the Olympics since he was in high school.

"I was invited to train [by then-coach Ratko Rudic, currently Croatia's national team coach] before the 2004 Olympics. They brought me on just to train," said Merlo, who was second on the UC-Irvine team his senior year with 62 goals. "They needed more bodies out there. It gave me experience and confidence. Whenever a coach wants you to be out there, it's like, 'OK.' "

The invitation for this year's team came from coach Terry Schroeder, the U.S. national team coach for the last two years and a four-time Olympian.

"It's definitely tough. It's a battle," Merlo said. "It's what I love. It's my dream, and I didn't expect it to be easy. Every day you're giving it your all. You're constantly broken down."

The U.S. men's water polo team, currently ranked No. 9 in the world, hasn't won gold since the first time the sport was played at the Olympics, at the St. Louis games in 1904. The team is training in Italy, where Merlo said the game is a top-four sport, until June 27, then it heads to Colorado Springs to resume full training July 7, after the final cut.

Wherever the training is, Merlo said he will do whatever his coaching staff needs.

"If we had a hall of fame for aquatics, he'd be the guy we'd start off with," Pickford said. "It's not just about water polo. He's just a step above. He'd come back and help with the program. He'll talk to the guys, work one on one. He gives back to the game."