Tonight marked the second and final day of Harvard's first IM Innertube Water Polo tournament, an event that had students from eleven of the Houses and Dudley House trying out this sport for the very first time.
According to Intramural Coordinator Jennifer A. Carney, the tournament is part of an effort to "[try] and introduce new non-traditional opportunities" for students.
Many of the students took to the water fearlessly even though the majority admitted that they had never played the sport before. Wesley W. Mann '13 showed up with four other enthusiastic Eliot students and admitted that he wasn't too confident about his swimming skills, but was still excited to try out the sport.
On the other hand, his fellow teammate, Eamon F. Fleming '12 was a little more optimistic. "I practiced in my tub," he said.
To clarify, innertube water polo is not to be confused with regular water polo. As William C. Roller '14, the co-captain of Harvard men's water polo team explained, "there are a lot of differences in the movements of the players and there's no contact."
Regardless, despite limited water polo exposure, the students played well. John B. Holland-McCowan '15, a referee for the event and a member of the Harvard men's water polo team commented, "so far I've been pretty impressed."
From the looks of it, the tournament proved successful, especially for the winning House, Eliot.