In 1980, members of the U.S. Water Polo team were on their way to Hungary to play in the Tunsgrum Cup--a prestigious tournament that was to serve as a pre-Olympic warm up--when they heard that they really didn't have to bother.

President Jimmy Carter, bolstered by Congress, had made up his mind. After weeks of posturing, Carter decided that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan made U.S. participation in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow untenable.

For members of that year's squad, and for the sport, the aftermath of the decision was as significant as Carter's move itself. That decision affected not only the 1980 team, but every U.S. national team fielded during the next decade.

Now, 10 years later, the players and coaches can look at the decision with the benefit of hindsight. Still, the mere mention of Carter's action rekindles anger and frustration in team members. For them, the boycott always will signal a dream snatched away by politics and by uncontrollable events.

The 1980 Moscow Games would have been Terry Schroeder's first shot at the Olympics. When he talks about it, he puts his head down, folding his 6-foot-3 frame onto his elbows and resting on his knees.

"It was a real empty feeling," said Schroeder, of Agoura Hills. "You were being used as a pawn for what seemed like really not a very good reason."

* Rather than retire, Schroeder chose to return to the team. He graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine in 1981. With the help of his wife, Lori, who took notes for him while he traveled and trained, Schroeder graduated from chiropractic school in 1986. He stayed on for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

* Players like Joseph Vargas and John Siman say the boycott took away something from the members of the 1980 water polo team that can never be replaced. Vargas--like half of the 1980 team--opted to play in another Olympics. But by then, jobs, families and other influences became more pressing distractions than they were in 1980. That year, he said, the timing was right to win the gold.

* Others never had another chance. Eric Lindroth of Costa Mesa decided that he'd rather spend time with his family rather than spend 15 to 20 hours a week in the pool. He thinks about missing his moment at center stage each time Carter's name is mentioned.