Workout full of splash and dash

I've always been a certified land animal, despite having come from a family of competitive swimmers and water polo players. As my siblings competing in the deep end, I stayed on solid ground by running track in college. But all those hours of watching water polo from the sidelines made me curious about what type of workout I could get by actually trying the fast-paced sport.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I pulled out my old Nike swimsuit and headed to the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center for a masters water polo scrimmage. It had been years since I had been in good enough swimming shape to sprint up and down the pool more than a few times.

By the 2:30 p.m. start time, seven players had gathered on the deck, changing into their swimsuits and chatting. I became increasingly nervous as more broad-shouldered men in Speedos joined the group. They looked like they had played a water polo game or two before.

The first thing I learned was the concept of "water polo time." It would be a good 30 minutes of hanging around the pool deck and socializing before the game got underway. Charlie Wood Jr., a former water polo player at Princeton who started the weekly game a year ago, provided some last-minute pointers, teaching me how to guard my opponent by pushing down on his or her shoulder with my forearm, while putting my other hand in the air to block the pass. Then he threw me a white cap with lucky number 7.

By then, more than 20 players, including two other women, had arrived. I jumped in the water and joined a group of four men who were warming up, treading water as they passed the ball around. After 10 minutes, I was breathing hard and my legs burned from the continuous egg-beater movements necessary to stay afloat in 17 feet of water. Players are not allowed to let their feet touch bottom.

I sat on the sidelines with my team during the first game, as former college players squared off in front of the net, jostling for position and shooting powerful backhanded shots into the goal.

"They do all kinds of tricks -- they spin you and hold onto your suit to swim off, but it makes it fun," said Garth Masik, 45, who took up the sport a couple of years ago. "It can definitely get heated."

Finally, I was in the game. We played for 10 minutes, constantly sprinting up and down the pool on fast breaks, moving around the perimeter to set up our offense and passing the ball inside for a shot on goal.