Whitman has athletes who swim, athletes who throw, and athletes who put the biscuit in the basket. Now it has athletes who do all of those things in the same competition – members of Montgomery County’s first public high school water polo club.

Program manager Audrey Ross and her son, junior Nicholas King, began researching how to form a water polo club after her son played the sport one day at swim practice and enjoyed it. They had trouble finding a pool to use for practice, however, until Landon offered the use of their outdoor pool, which is newly equipped with a heater.

The season will officially start on Aug. 15 and run until the last week of October or the first week of November, depending on the weather. Practices will be on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half.

Ross said strategies in water polo resemble those in soccer and basketball. Conditioning is critical, as players have to be able to tread water for long periods with their hands in the air.

“People who play the sport love the sport and we’ve had a lot of fun at our last clinic,” Ross said. “Once kids try it I think they’ll really enjoy it.”

The coaching staff consists of a head coach and two assistant coaches. Danielle Looymans, the head coach, played college water polo and currently plays with the Women’s Capital Area Polo team. She said she jumped at the opportunity to coach the team and is excited to get prospective players interested in the sport.

“Water polo is one of my passions, it’s great to be able to do something you love and to teach others and to watch them enjoy themselves is indescribable,” she said. “I believe I am a good role model for high school children and I have the patience, time and desire to make the Walt Whitman water polo team a team with solidarity, courage and confidence.”

The team is co-ed but will play only against boys teams, as there are no girls teams in the area. So far, the team consists of two girls and eight boys, with six more students potentially joining.

Admission is rolling and anyone can join by emailing the club or coming to the Landon pool on practice days between 5:45 and 7:15. Ross hopes to play at least two teams from the area over the season, and hopes that Whitman will eventually field both a varsity and JV team.

“We’re all about having fun and getting something started at Whitman that will last a long time,” Ross said.