I was very happy to see the article in the Nov. 28 Kent Reporter featuring the continued growth in interest in water polo in high schools in the area.

I played water polo for four years in high school in Honolulu and have happy memories of practices and games.

At the time there were only four high school water polo teams in the state, but over the past 32 years the sport has become very established and recognized.

I would like to wish the coaches, players and their supporters the best of luck in developing water polo into a recognized mainstream high school sport in the area.

From my 50-year-old perspective, the memories of the pain and agony of hours of eggbeater, butterfly, shooting and tactical drills, scrimmages, weigh training and morning practice have all faded away, and I am left with happy memories of being a teenager playing water polo with my friends.

I hope that decades from now the current players will look back and have the same fond recollections of a bygone youth that I do.

– Finn Palmer