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August 17, 2004 2:44 pm

U.S. stays unbeaten in water polo

By BRYCE MILLER

Gannett News Service

ATHENS - The U.S. men's water polo team could just as easily wear camouflage Speedos during the Summer Olympics.

The workout-crazy, calorie-loading Americans brought the military-like practice training of two-time gold medal winning coach Ratko Rudic to Greece.

The result: The U.S. wore down Kazakhstan, 9-6, on Tuesday at the Olympic Aquatic Center to stay unbeaten after two games in Group A.

The unbeaten U.S. team plays Hungary on Thursday in a Group A game at the Olympic Aquatic Center.

``I've never been through boot camp, but it sure feels like it,'' goalkeeper Brandon Brooks said.

Brooks, of Honolulu, Hawaii, said the team powered through 10- to 12-hour practice days to train for Athens, taking off just five days the past four months.

Non-goalkeepers would swim as many as 12,000 meters in one day - about 7.5 miles - in a regimen that included 1 1/2 hours of weight training and 3 1/2 hours of practice, before lunch.

``It blew my mind when we started going 12,000 meters,'' said Jeff Powers, who scored a goal on Tuesday and was born in Chattanooga, Tenn. ``I never thought I'd be able to do that - but we can now.''

The goal of pushing players such as Brooks and Powers to peak physical condition is to overcome more experienced international opponents.

Rudic led the Yugoslavian water polo team to back-to-back gold medals in 1984 and `88 against the team he currently coaches. The U.S. placed Rudic in charge of the American team in 2001.

To retain muscle mass through the grueling workout schedule leading to the Olympics, team officials told players to consume 4,000 calories per day - or twice the total for a normal active athlete.

The team even has a deal with a buffet-style restaurant near its training facility in Los Alamitos, Calif.

The hard-swimming Americans have become the all-you-can-eat kings of the Olympics.

``Sometimes we take a break in the middle of practice and eat a granola bar and have a protein shake, or whatever,'' said Brooks, who won an NCAA water polo title in 1999 and was a walk-on with the UCLA basketball team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2000. ``We eat a lot of food.''

The combination of conditioning and consumption has helped the Americans stay active and aggressive during the four 7-minute quarters in the pool.``We don't have quite the same game experience,'' said Brooks, 23, ``so we need to be physically prepared.''

Powers, 24, said the sacrifices made in Rudic's system have angered girlfriends and wives, but provided early results in Greece.

``So far it's paying off, so we can't complain,'' he said.

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