Athletes of the Week: Bear Polo Captains

Water polo is a sheer test of athleticism, combining football, swimming and basketball into a single sport. With physical and mental toughness, speed in the pool and powerful moves, senior co-captains JB Baker, Nick duPont and Joe Shepley have fine-tuned their skills and will lead Big Red’s Bear Polo in the hopes of defending their title as New England Champions. With a combined eight years of service to the varsity water polo team, the trio, without a doubt, will serve as strong leaders for this year’s younger group.Like most other water polo players, Baker was originally a swimmer. “I started playing water polo in eighth grade because it seemed like the perfect sport for me to transition to from swimming, which I had sort of lost my passion for.” With a year of experience prior to coming to Exeter, Baker secured a spot on the varsity team as a prep.As one of two four-year varsity players on Bear Polo, Baker is a strong offensive player: he led the team in scoring his upper year. Baker’s teammates recognize his strengths as a competitor that set him apart from the rest. “Not only is JB a fantastic leader and a monster in the pool, but he is also one of the premier high school athletes in the country,” senior teammate Quinn Larkin said. “Goalies around New England fear JB, and I have no doubt that he, as well as our other captains, will lead us to another ring.”Although Baker has had much glory as an individual player, his greatest moment of last season was one of teamwork and victory as a whole. “My proudest accomplishment from that season was shared with the team,” Baker said, “and that was us winning the championship and really coming together as a team at the right time.”Senior goalie Angus Gorman praised Baker. “[JB] doesn’t abuse his power and interacts with everyone more as a player than a captain,” Gorman said. “The overall takeaway with JB Baker: an ‘accessible’ captain who realizes that the betterment of the team is more important than personal glory, and one who leads by relying on his skill in the water as opposed to a dominating personality.”Following suit after his older siblings, duPont first gained an interest in water polo after seeing his brother and sister succeed in the sport at Exeter. “My sister had started at Exeter and then played at Princeton, and my brother was on the JV team my freshman year. I always felt like I was going to eventually switch to water polo,” duPont, who played JV football his prep year, said. “I had been a swimmer when I was younger, so that helped me get ready.” His lower year and first time trying out, duPont earned a spot on varsity, displaying a great deal of natural talent in the pool.Ever since joining the team, duPont has been a natural leader and a strong defensive player. “Nick is a powerful human being, in every sense of the word,” Gorman said. “His large build and even larger personality dominate every group huddle. He is the quintessential captain: deservedly cocky, one of the most skilled players on the team, encouraging and helpful.”Larkin continued, “This year, I expect Nick to break New England records. He is a great guy in and out of the pool: a hard worker, motivating captain and exemplary Exonian.”DuPont is also always aiming to improve the team, willing to extend a hand to newcomers to the game. Last spring, duPont organized a Sunday afternoon water polo league to keep the team in shape and together, and is “responsible for most of the "captain/player communication” as Gorman calls it.This year as captain, duPont feels that he has a special job to maintain Bear Polo's high standards. “Our job as captains will be to lead by example in the pool, to make sure morale stays high even when the coaches are killing us and to make sure the team is close,” duPont said. “Chemistry is vital if we want to win a championship.”Shepley, a fierce swimmer and the fastest on the team, joined water polo as a way to keep in shape for the swimming season. He joined Bear Polo his prep year, commanding the pool ever since with his strong skills in the water.Known for his strong swimming capabilities, Shepley also dominates the pool as one of the best on Bear Polo, starting in last year’s New England Championships. “Joe is truly a purebred swimmer and polo player,” Larkin said. “He is a strong leader and is definitely the mature presence on the team, which is crucial to Bear Polo. He is known around campus as the second coming of Michael Phelps, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his swim off percentage was 100%.”As one of the leaders of the team, Shepley intends to help the newcomers succeed. “I feel my role as captain is to correct and answer questions that the younger kids have. Since almost everyone who plays polo at Exeter has never played it before, it’s a big learning experience for the new kids.”Shepley’s teammates also view him as the perfect player to help teach the inexperienced players, describing him as the mentor of the team. “He is very intelligent and a remarkable young man; very kind, almost paternal,” Gorman said.Shepley has come a long way since his beginnings during prep year. He reflects on his and JB’s first year on the team. “I remember our parents bringing us McDonalds during a tournament, and we ate in the locker room because we knew we weren’t going to play,” he said. “But last year, JB was the New England all-tournament MVP, and we are both captains now.”This year, Bear Polo hopes to have a repeat of last season and win the New England Championship for the second time in a row. “We have a strong bunch of returners, but the key to success this year is players stepping up,” duPont said. “As we showed last year, a balanced team wins, and so we are going to need some younger players to step up and play to their potential.”However, with this year’s loss of half of the team’s players, the team hopes that the fresh faces on the team will offer some variety. “We are really looking forward to some incoming players such as John Wang, an incoming prep, and Andrew Eigner, a new upper,” Shepley said.Despite some obstacles that the team must overcome, Baker is confident that they will succeed. “My prediction?" he asked. "Undefeated.”