Athlete of the Week: Brooks Saltonstall

The ball falls into the middle of the water. Swimmers sprint from both sides of the pool to the center, trying to snag the ball before their opponent. A red-capped player comes up with the ball, and after a moment’s pause, he sends the ball in a high-arcing lob-pass over to his teammate. Blonde hair peeking out from the bottom of his swim cap, Brooks Saltonstall strokes forward, pulls up, treads out of the water and lasers a shot on goal from seven meters off. Skipping off the water, the ball sails over the goalie’s right hand and a resounding “Clang!” echoes through the pool hall as the ball finds the top right corner of the net. Paddling back to his side of the pool amongst cheers from those assembled and congratulations from his teammates, Brooks smiles as he anticipates the rest of the bloodbath to come versus this paltry St. John’s prep team. Just another W for Bear Polo.Since his prep year, Saltonstall has had fond memories of the sport. For the past four years, he has spent each fall competing in the pool, and polo has been a huge part of his experience at the Academy. Saltonstall still can perfectly recall moments from his days on JV prep year.One day, Coach Mills had the varsity players come practice with JV, and they did a one-on-one drill where each varsity player was paired with a JV player and the JV player was told to try to score on them. Before any pairs had been selected, Finn Meeks, an upper at the time, called out “I get the cute one!” before picking up Saltonstall and throwing him into the pool. His close relationship with Meeks became a huge part of his enthusiasm and drive for the sport.“Finn was definitely one of my earliest and best mentors,” Saltonstall said. “He was always around to help me out and give me pointers, but he was also just a close friend of mine. When I made varsity the next year, it was a lot of fun to be able to play and practice with him for the rest of the season.”During Saltonstall’s lower year, Big Red won New England’s for the first time in six years. Marred with third and fourth place finishes in the years before, Exeter was able to excel in the regular season, posting a 9-1 record in conference play. After eking past Choate 6-2, Bear Polo whipped the second-seeded Choate team 11-4 thanks to tremendous performances by then uppers Nick du Pont and JB Baker.“Even though I wasn’t playing in the game, watching us win New England’s was one of the greatest moments for me while I was on the team,” Saltonstall said. “However, for me as an athlete, my personal highlight was during the Deerfield game my upper year. That game was where I really found my style of play, and it was when I really started to play a lot better.” Saltonstall hopes that this year he will be able to relive that feeling of winning Interschols but this time with him in the pool.With his competitive attitude serving as his driving force, Brooks has made sure that the boys have been training hard in the practice. “Brooks is one of the most vocal members on our team,” lower Joel Lotzkar said. “At the end of each practice, Brooks will lead the way as we snake eight laps through the pool while holding water polo weight balls above our heads. I can always hear Brooks’ voice shouting ‘reach higher’ and he motivates all of us to improve our skills every day. Brooks, along with a couple of other boys, thought of wearing bear costumes as our team gear. He showed us a picture of one costume and it was funny, since the costume was a full length coat with claws and teeth.”“Brooks is a very enthusiastic captain who is determined to make this year’s polo team the best it can be. He brings a high level of intensity to every practice, which in turn gets the rest of the team pumped to play,” upper David Shepley said.Upper Ernesto Brown added, “As a captain, he is funny when he needs to be, but is also very good about giving the team direction and keeping the focus. As an athlete, he is very hard working and is always looking to improve himself and the people around him.”

All around campus, Saltonstall is also known for having the best legs in the pool.

All around campus, Saltonstall is also known for having the best legs in the pool. Even his coaches are astounded each time Brooks throws his body out of the pool to block a shot, receive a pass or heave forward a pass. “Brooks is known for his ability go get high up out of the water; he has the strongest legs on the team. One time, he got so high out of the water that the ref thought he pushed off the bottom [of the pool],” Shepley said.“This year Brooks really stepped up to take charge of the team and does a really good job of having a good time; he inspires us to work hard,” prep Jamie Cassidy said. “Nobody on the team can say that they dislike Brooks because he’s such a nice guy and so close to everyone. He really helps us as a group.”Right now, water polo is already 8-1 and averages 8.9 more points than their opponent every game. On track for one of their most successful seasons to date, Saltonstall and the rest of Bear Polo hope to clinch their second Interschols champion title in three years.