Athletes of the Week: Troy Marrero & Peter Tuchler

After boys’ varsity water polo defeated St. John’s Preparatory School, the team blared music throughout the bus ride home to celebrate the victory. After graduating strong senior athletes last season, the boys’ varsity water polo team needed two strong leaders to bring it back into the championship pool and lead the team to success. 

Luckily, seniors and co-captains Troy Marrero and Peter Tuchler were up for the challenge. With its current season record of 4-4, the boys’ team is looking to take home more wins, giving way to a winning season. Marrero and Tuchler are confident that they will be able to guide the water polo team to success for the remainder of the 2018 season.

Manchester, MA native Marrero started playing water polo during his prep year at Exeter. After spending two years on the junior varsity team, Marrero moved up to varsity during his upper year. Lower and teammate Cooper Walshe commended Marrero’s leadership abilities. “[Marrero] radiates confidence so it translates onto the rest of the team and it creates a great environment for the team.”

Marrero’s main focus for the team this year is maintaining a positive mindset. “I want to keep the team upbeat and eager to play. We’ve got to be ready to dominate when we get in the pool,” he explained.

Despite suffering a few tough loses, Marrero is ready for Big Red to come back and secure wins for the remainder of the season. “We’ve just got to be ready to dominate and wipe the floor with the other teams,” Marrero said confidently. “I also want our boys to finish the games playing hard—close out the games.”

Tuchler came to Exeter his prep year from Northbrook, IL, and has been swimming since he was young. “I played [water polo] a little bit in eighth grade. Maybe once or twice a week,” Tuchler recalled. “But I didn’t really start until I arrived at Exeter.” Tuchler shares a similar team mindset as his fellow captain – leading the Exeter team to success not only through victories, but through “promoting team spirit.” To Tuchler, that means “making sure that we lead by example through both putting forth maximum effort in the pool and fostering a respectful team atmosphere.”

Upper Michael Carbone commented on Tuchler’s leadership skills. “[Tuchler] leads by example. He leads by trying to learn the most at any given time and putting the most effort at any drill or exercise that we do.”

Their complementary personalities have helped the team improve drastically. Carbone explained that “Marrero acts as the influencer and Tuchler acts as the innovator.”

Upper Charlie Venci also commented on their dynamic, saying, “They are a great duo for team captains. On one hand, you have Peter: the silent block of muscle who works hard and sets an example for the rest of the team to follow.” As for Marrero: “Troy brings lots of energy to each and every practice and game that gets the boys hyped up,” upper Milo Walshe added.

Together, their focus on individual improvement reflects back positively on their leadership abilities and the team’s growth. Each of the captains appreciates each other’s goals for the team. Marrero applauded his co-captain on his effort and abilities in the water. “Tuchler’s hard work during practice and games sets a positive example for the rest of the teammates to follow,” Marrero explained.

Tuchler also respects Marrero’s ability to be a leader and praised him, saying, “Through his leadership, he has taken Exeter water polo from just a group of individual players to a cohesive team of brothers.” He added that Marrero is a role model in the pool, putting up four goals against Choate.

Voted in as captains at the end of their upper year, Marreo and Tuchler took initiative in leading the team right away. Venci commented on the co-captains’ passion and devotion to leading the team by saying, “I have never seen two captains create a team group chat in early April when the actual season starts in September. Troy and Peter were both ridiculously excited to get started and their firepower was very contagious for the rest of us.”

“[Tuchler and Marrero] are like yin and yang,” lower Adam Tuchler, Peter’s younger brother, explained.

Although on the quieter side, Peter Tuchler is extremely ambitious and not afraid to push those around him. “From the get-go, I knew that he was going to challenge me and push me to be a better water polo player,” Venci said. “On the other hand, Troy is very vocal. He is very rowdy all of the time and brings the team’s energy level through the roof.” The two balance each other out and encourage the making of a dynamic team environment.

On the flip side, Marrero isn’t afraid to use his sense of humor to lighten up tough situations. Venci shared a story about a time he was serving a penalty in the penalty box, and Marrero had to hop out of the pool and join him. “He made his way over to the box and pulled up next to me. He spread his arms out on the wall and turned to me and said, ‘What’s up, bro?’” Venci described the moment as the turning point in his friendship with Marrero.

As the season progresses, Tuchler and Marrero are looking forward to helping the team improve and win more games. The co-captains’ ultimate goal for the season is to lead the team back to the playoffs.“Playoffs are at home this year so we have to make it back. We had a dominant streak last year and I want to keep that going. We just need to play hard and win,” Marrero said.

Despite the team’s .500 record, they remain optimistic. “We may have lost eight seniors last spring. Our team may not have the sheer numbers that it has seen before,” Venci said. “But Troy and Peter have set the bar high. We may have not gotten off to the best of starts. But this season, we are taking back the league.”