Water polo: Fairytale trip for Brothers Swim

By KATHERINE HOBY

Big brother is watching you.

In the case of the New Zealand under-20 water polo team, three brothers are keeping an eye on one another's form.

The Broome brothers - Alex, David and Chris - are part of a 13-strong squad leaving today for the Junior World Water Polo Championships in Turkey.

The talented trio from Milford in Auckland say having a brotherly bond helps them to excel in the pool.

"As the eldest I get the younger ones pushing me quite a lot," Alex, who has just turned 20, says of David, 18, and Chris, 16.

"It makes me train harder. The constant rivalry makes us more competitive."

Each brother has his own strengths in the game, Alex says. "It also helps to have someone to get you up in the mornings."

Alex hopes the team will be competitive and will come away with at least a couple of wins.

Chris says that despite the 5.30 am training sessions, he "gets a hell of a lot" out of water polo.

"We've worked hard to get here - a bit of support, a bit of angst, a bit of ribbing among us all - it's all worth it."

The boys' parents, Peter and Christine, who have helped to pay for the trip, will be in Istanbul to cheer them on.

"Our parents are very proud and are taking out the life savings for this trip," Alex says.

Coach Wouly De Bie says it is the first time he has had three brothers in any of his teams.

"But it's not the name or anything else. They all won places on my squad on merit."

The brothers are "very committed and willing to give their all to the game", he says.

De Bie says water polo is slowly gaining popularity in New Zealand.

Players have to be strong swimmers, with powerful legs to boost them out of the water, and they need a lot of energy.

The team have been training together, and bonding, for three months at Sacred Heart College in Auckland.

They have drawn tough pool competition for the championships, which start on August 10, including three medal candidates: Croatia, Russia and Spain.

New Zealand finished 15th out of 24 teams at the 1999 junior worlds in Kuwait. To better that result, they will have to win at least two games.

The players have not had much international competition, although they will remedy that with a six-day training camp with the national Singapore team.

But De Bie says the team are not going to Istanbul as innocents looking to learn from the big boys of the sport.

"We're not going there for learning, we're going there for results.

"We're going to give them a hard time. Everybody has to know that New Zealand is not an easy game. We will demand respect."

The team expect "rugged, physical, intense competition", De Bie says.

He says the team expect a lot of themselves, and "on the day if they are good and play well they could be dangerous".

The rapport and respect between coach and players are obvious. But at one of the last training sessions, De Bie pushes his players hard.

"Come on, come on now, be serious. This is no time for jokes," he yells.

A moment later the team focus - on drills, exercises and pounding the goal with shots taken at breakneck speeds.

One of the team's secret weapons for the championships should give them a unique edge - their codes for certain sequences are called in Maori.

"It's just to get one up on the other teams," David says. "We don't want to give away our secrets."

De Bie is determined the team will come away with a bigger reputation.

"I am Dutch and we have a saying, 'We sell our skin for a heavy price'.

"We will do that. We will give it all - but only for a superior result."

The Broome brothers dream of a future playing water polo.

"The Olympics is a bit far-fetched at this stage but we would like to give it a shot at some stage," Alex says.

"You've got to live your dreams. You've got to be a contender."