Same Coach, New Direction

Given the chance, Guy Baker would play for himself.

Sounds strange, sure, but the coach of the U.S. women’s national water polo team, with his reputation for tough practices and poolside pacing, says it’s true.

“If I was playing I would want to play for me,” Baker said. “You know it would be difficult, and it would be hard, but I know that when we get to the competition ... we’re going to be prepared. We’re going to be ready.”

So on a game day in late June, it was no surprise that the team was hitting the showers after a 2 1/2-hour practice.

“Today was a shorter day,” Baker said.

It’s part of what he calls the system. Practicing harder than you will have to play in a game, he believes, is the way to build a winning team.

Not only can the women handle it, he says they thrive on it. Apparently, he’s right. Heading into Athens, the team is ranked No. 1 in the world.

“They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t tough,” he said of the players. “They wouldn’t survive.”

One could call him intense, but his wife, Michelle, prefers passionate. She said his players, seven of whom were on the 2000 Olympic team, are used to it.

They don’t want a softy, she said. He tried that after Sydney and it left the women worried and confused. They went to Michelle, the team’s manager, to find out what was wrong.

“They know if he’s quiet, he’s done,” she said.

But watch Baker coach and it’s hard to believe he’ll ever be done. He started coaching men’s water polo as an assistant at his alma mater in 1985, two years after an All-American career at Long Beach State. A decade later, he became the coach of UCLA’s first women’s team after four successful years as the men’s coach. It was only the fourth women’s program in the country.

Three years after that, women’s water polo became an Olympic sport, and Baker took on the responsibility of turning the eighth-ranked team in the world into medal contenders. It wasn’t easy, he said.

In 1999, the team had so far failed to qualify for Sydney. He defines it as the lowest point in his career. The women were devastated after losing in their third attempt at qualifying. It took them almost two hours to get off the pool deck and back to the hotel. From there, they went their separate ways.

A month passed before Baker summoned his team for damage control and planning. They still had a final chance to qualify for Sydney, at a meet in Palermo, Sicily. So he met with each player individually.

“I finished the last meeting at 8 o’clock that night -- 12 hours of meetings,” he said.

Baker said he realized that day what he needed to change: the lines of communication. The leaders of the group met with him once a week. He credits the group with helping him open up to his players and realize there is a difference between coaching men and women.

With the help of his team it seemed Baker had figured out the winning formula. In 2000, representing a country where water polo doesn’t even earn a spot in the backseat of the sports psyche, he led his team to a silver medal.

Baker has learned a great deal since he started coaching almost 20 years ago. But it’s the fact he is “constantly learning” that team captain Heather Moody said she respects the most. That way, she said, they will never be a step behind their opponents.

For Baker, it’s about guaranteeing they will always be one step ahead. That takes dedication, something Michelle said her husband does not lack. Water polo is never off his mind. Baker said it’s his first thought in the morning and his last at night.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he said.

The curse, he is sure, is more of his family’s to deal with. Michelle said his passion is what attracted her to him when they met nine years ago. She is still “in awe” of his drive, but admits it is often a source of frustration, especially when it comes to his daughters from a previous marriage, Samantha, 14, and Christin, 10.

“Sometimes it’s nerve-racking,” she said. “He can let everything else go and focus [on coaching], and I’m worried about ‘did the kids make it home from practice?’ ”

But Michelle said Baker’s daughters share their father’s competitive spirit and handle his absence well. Perhaps it’s because they understand that for Baker, there is no other way.

After a while, Baker said, a team’s personality becomes that of its coach.

Maybe that explains the group of women streaming out of the locker room, all smiles and wet hair, fresh out of practice and the pool they can’t wait to jump into again.

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Guy Baker Profile

Water polo coaching career of the U.S. women’s national team coach:

LONG BEACH STATE MEN

* A 1987 graduate of Long Beach State, Baker served as an assistant coach at the school from 1985 to ’90.

UCLA MEN

* Named UCLA men’s water polo coach in 1991, and coached 10 seasons.

* Led Bruins to four NCAA championships (1995, ‘96, ‘99, 2000).

* Compiled 174-90 record (.659 winning percentage).

UCLA WOMEN

* Took over as women’s coach when the team was awarded varsity status in 1995.

* Coached the Bruins for four seasons, including three consecutive NCAA championships (1996 to ‘98).

* Compiled a 108-14 record (.885 winning percentage). Had combined 282-104 record for men’s and women’s teams (.731 winning percentage).

U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM

* Named national team coach in 1998. The team had been ranked eighth in the world. Signed through 2008 (Beijing, Summer Olympics).

* As the first U.S. women’s Olympic water polo coach, Baker led the U.S. to a silver medal in 2000.

* In 2002, coached the U.S. to a World Cup silver medal.

* In 2003, led U.S. to gold medals in the World Championships and the FINA Women’s World League Super Finals.