Christopher Hanewinckel-USA Today Sports
There’s nothing like a heated rivalry in high school water polo.
In Florida, arch rival competitors St. Thomas Aquinas and the Belen Jesuit School brought the dicey competitiveness to another level, however. In the state championship bout, St. Thomas Aquinas got the last laugh with a 13-10 victory, but after the match is when things really heated up.
During the post game handshake, one player decided that instead of shaking his competitor’s hand, he would simply push him into the pool. That’s right — I mean where is the sportsmanship?
Luckily for sports fans, the post game handshake was filmed. Take a look at the video clip below:
Nothing too serious broke out following one’s decision to push a competitor into the pool, but seriously what’s the point of this? No reason to be a tough guy here, it’s a state championship match and a winner was decided. Why show poor sportsmanship in shoving someone after the fact?
It’s described as a traditional rivalry in the state of Florida, but things boiled over. There will now be a new curtain to this rivalry moving forward, one that surely involves more than just a rematch of this year’s state championship.
The two sides did eventually make up for the altercation, but that hardly makes up for the lack of sportsmanship on behalf of the Belen Jesuit School. Their water polo team had a great season, one that did not end with a state title, but one that probably had a number of positives to look upon.
That might not be the case anymore.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
