Chris Gronow goes ‘pro’ in Greece
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 2, No. 2
18 February - 3 March 2008 ] By Rod Warnecke
Fourth year Commerce/Law student Chris Gronow has just returned from playing professional water polo in Greece and it’s an experience he certainly won’t forget. After captaining the Australian Universities water polo team at the World University Games in Bangkok last year, Chris was approached with the offer to play professionally in Greece.
Chris joined Greek first division club NEP from the port city of Patras in September after deferring his semester two studies.
“Getting the invitation to play in Greece was a bit of a shock, but certainly a pleasant one. The Australian team had some good results at the World University Games in August, and I must have performed well enough for some scouts to put my name forward to NEP.
“Luckily I managed to defer from my semester two Commerce/Law units, so thanks go to the staff that assisted me in this process. The only real regret about heading off overseas was that I had to miss playing for Team Melbourne at the Australian University Games on the Gold Coast”, says Chris.
As a professional athlete in Greece, Chris typically trained twice a day. Morning sessions went for two hours from 10am, with an emphasis on swimming.
The team then went to a local café for a frappe (Greek iced coffee) and cheese pie, before meeting again at one of three club-sponsored restaurants for lamb gyros.
Lunch ended around 3.30pm followed by a mandatory siesta before a 7– 9.30pm evening training session. Every second morning included dedicated weight training. Games were generally on a Friday evening or a weekend.
“The laid back Greek lifestyle took a little getting used to, but I feel I’ve improved ten-fold as a player,” Chris reports.
“Quality training on a daily basis, playing against some of the best players in the world and experiencing a completely different style of coaching and game plan has certainly made the experience worthwhile.
“And getting to travel throughout Greece and to places such as Croatia and Montenegro for matches was also a bonus,” he added.
Since returning to Australia over Christmas, Chris has played in a series of international ‘friendlies’ against Serbia, Romania and China as a lead up to the Beijing Olympic Games. While happy with his form in these games, Chris feels he might be one of the unlucky players to miss out on selection for Beijing and has set his sights on cementing his position in the team for London 2012.
And after missing them in 2007, he’s also ready to make waves in the pool while representing Team Melbourne at this year’s Australian University Games.
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