Sergio Jimenez splashed around the edge of Commerce's Aquatorium pool proclaiming the news to anyone willing to listen.
"Brenda and Patty won 9 to 8," the 7-year-old said after the U.S. women's water polo team defeated Australia at the Olympic Games on Tuesday. "I thought the U.S.A. was going to win, and I was right!"
Michael Phelps may still dominate headlines, but inside this Aquatorium, Sergio and his water polo teammates have been more captivated by the triumph of two other Olympians: Brenda Villa and Patty Cardenas. They are part of the women's water polo team that won a silver medal after being defeated by the Netherlands on Thursday morning.
Not too long ago, Villa, a three-time Olympian, and Cardenas were bouncing around in the Aquatorium as members of the Commerce water polo club. Now, more than 6,000 miles away in Beijing, they were giving their hometown a fresh image and the children at their childhood aquatic center the highest of hopes for their sport.
Many of the 150 or so young swimmers who make up the Aquatorium's nationally ranked program have been glued to television and computer screens watching Villa and Cardenas in awe, closely noting their plays, their goals, their facial expressions. Some 250 people in Commerce, including the mayor and Cardenas' parents, gathered at the center at 3:30 Thursday morning in front of a giant television to cheer on the women.
"I see them, and I think, anything can happen to us," said Alfredo Delamora, 13, who recently returned from Hawaii, where he competed for Commerce. "Someone from Commerce went that far. We could do it too, if we set our minds to it."
Like Alfredo, many of the children on the Aquatorium water polo teams are neither well-off nor well connected. Many are the children of landscapers, truck drivers and factory workers. They live in Commerce, a blue-collar city of about 13,000 known not for beach views or recreational offerings, but for its expansive casino and industrial corridors. More than 90% of the population is Latino, and the annual median household income is less than $40,000.
But early on, the city caught on to the children's knack for water sports and nurtured it. In 1961, the city built a top-of-the-line aquatic center. Former coach and water polo pioneer Sandy Nitta used to encourage youngsters to get involved in the sport, using trash cans for goals, said Aquatorium supervisor Barbie Bylsma-Houghton. The new center was built in 2001.
