Corey Delahunt

Bryce Alderton

Corey Delahunt didn’t get into coaching to simply pass time. The

30-year-old Costa Mesa High graduate is determined to help lead the

Newport Harbor High boys water polo team to a CIF Southern Section

Division I championship in his first coaching job.

Delahunt reunited with his high school coach, Jason Lynch, who is

Newport’s head of the boys water polo and swimming programs.

But the road to Newport Harbor took some turns along the way for

Delahunt, the CIF 2-A Co-Player of the Year as a driver and two-meter

specialist in 1990, his senior year.

“He had the most athletic talent of any player I have ever

coached,” Lynch said.

The two-time Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player at Mesa

then played at Golden West College for two years before the traveling

began. In 1994, Delahunt played in the United States Olympic

Festival, a competition featuring water polo teams from around the

country.

But the man who played the sport since he was 13 had become “burnt

out” and needed a change of scenery.

Delahunt spent some time in Montana and Santa Cruz, laying

concrete and fishing.

“Water polo takes a lot of time and after Costa Mesa and Golden

West, to be able to travel around was something that got me away from

[the sport] for awhile,” Delahunt said. “I was playing water polo all

the time. It was time for a break.”

The break lasted longer than Delahunt anticipated, but he knew it

was time to get back into the sport when boredom set in.

“Coming back down here and coaching was never a question,”

Delahunt said.

Delahunt has also begun training on his own to hopefully compete

overseas beginning next year.

Robert Grayeli, the CIF Division II Co-Player of the Year in 1995

playing for Mesa -- coached by Lynch -- has played for professional

water polo teams in Australia and New Zealand and was Lynch’s

assistant at Newport last season.

“Robert has connections down there, I’m just waiting for the

call,” Delahunt said.

It was Grayeli who told Delahunt about the opening at Newport.

“I was surprised, but at the same time I feel I have a lot to give

to the kids and desire to make them better,” Delahunt said. “To coach

with [Lynch,] that will be fun.

“My expectations for this team are really high. I’m here to win a

[CIF] championship. This is a talented group and Southern California

is the mecca of water polo.”

Delahunt, a Newport Beach resident, began coaching during the

summer league season. Lynch noticed his enthusiasm.

“[Delahunt] gets in the water with the kids and works with them,”

Lynch said. “He brings a lot of knowledge.”

Back in the pool is right where Delahunt, whose parents -- Jim and

Ina Delahunt -- now live in Carefree, Ariz., wants to be.

“From a few years ago to where I am now, it is right where I want

to be,” Delahunt said.