Cal Senior Water Polo Captain Nikos Delagrammatikas to Return Next Fall
* Latest in a series of periodic stories on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Cal athletes in different sports. The fall Cal men's water polo season was canceled
Nikos Delagrammatikas entered this fall as a senior expecting this to be his final college season of water polo competition. But due to the peculiarities of the COVID-19 pandemic he will be part of Cal's men's water polo team again next fall.
The pandemic has created unusual circumstances, and college athletes have had to adjust to the ever-changing situations in 2020-21.
When Delagrammaikas learned during the summer that 2020 fall sports like men's water polo had been canceled, he waited anxiously to find out how eligibility would be affected.
"It was one of my main concerns over the summer," he said.
When the NCAA determined that all college athletes scheduled to compete in 2020-21 would be given another year of eligibility, Delagrammatikas did not hestitate to make a decision.
He would come back next fall.
"It's been one of my goals to captain this team since freshman [year]," he said, "and now that I'm in this position, I want to keep leading this team, keep being with this team we have created and capitalize on all the work we have done for so many months."
Captaincy is important to 6-foot-5 Delagrammatikas, who has been a key member of the water polo team since his freshman year. He has scored 52 career goals from his 2-meter position, and he opted to extend his captaincy and education at Cal into next fall.
He has not worked out how he will configure his 2021 fall academic schedule to make this happen -- whether he'll will push back his graduation scheduled for May by taking extra classes next fall, or take courses at an extension school to remain eligible or find another method.
"I'll figure it out," he said.
The opportunity to return next fall aligns with a quote he likes that seems appropriate in these times.
"When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."
Delagrammatikas explains:
"Every difficult situation changes you, and you try to do everything to change yourself for the better."
A difficult decision faced Delagrammtikas in the summer. He is from Athens, Greece, and won a gold medal at the 2017 FINA Junior World Championships while reprsenting Greece. But he decided to stay in the Bay Area during the pandemic to avoid problems he might encounter trying to return to Berkeley from Greece.
Cal rugby player Adam Roeske had bureaucratic problems when he returned to the Bay Area after going home to the United Arab Emirates. Delagrammatikas expected he might face similar barriers when trying to return from Greece to the United States, so he just stayed in California.
"It was a better decision for me not to stress too much," he said.
One of the things he did during the summer was engage in a mentorship with a bond trader, learning little bit about that profession.
Since returning to Berkeley, water polo players have been involved in voluntary workouts with the hope that there might be a shortened men's water polo season organized for the winter or spring. Participating in such a shortened season in the spring term would not cost athletes a year of eligibility, so Delagrammatikas could still return for a fall season even he participates in the spring.
Like we said, the pandemic has created some unusual situations.
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