Nellen and Hopkins also received help from the rest of the team in their conversion from swimmers to water polo players.

"Without them," Nellen says, "there'd be dead lumps of Wookie on the bottom of the pool."

They have become assets to the team, not only in the pool but also out of it. The Wookies can be pranksters while on deck. Once during swimming practice they decided to hide from everybody inside two eight-foot stacks of innertubes.

"This is a very quiet sort of team," Nellen says. "and we aren't quiet people. We've definitely livened the team."

"At least we do entertain them and we keep Chris laughing," Hopkins adds. "We know we're obnoxious, but we like to have fun."

But the Wookies are not just famous for their exploits out of the water. They are starting to use their natural swimming speed and their newly-found ball-handling skills to great advantage.

"I'm happy that we have two swimmers who came out for water polo and are liking it," says Tri-Captain Leslie Barbi. "I hope this builds a better tie between the two teams."

Setups

Several times this year one Wookie has set up the other for a goal. It happened three times in a 20-6 victory by the Harvard B-team over Brown's B-team.

"We like to work together," Hopkins says. "In swimming, we'd always use the same lane in practice."

"She's fast, and I'm aggressive," adds Nellen.

The Wookies have unlimited scoring potential, and they're showing it at the right time. The team will lose much of its firepower to graduation next year, and having two fast swimmers ready to jump in and produce will give a great boost to the program. After all, ballhandling can be taught more easily than swimming.

"We hope to have the skills all ready for next year," Hopkins says. "It's hard coming on a team and looking clueless while everyone looks so experienced."

Next year, the Wookies won't be rookies anymore. But that's a year away. For now, these two freshmen are having too much fun.