The Oracle: How has this season been so far?

Nadav Efrat: Since last year, we lost a lot of our seniors, who were a key part of the team. A really challenging part of this year has been rebuilding the team, and finding and building new connections and new bonds between the teammates. Both in and out of the water, (this) has been super important and helpful for our performance. I feel like slowly we are learning to work together more and find our rhythm together. (We’re) pushing ourselves in swim sets and conditioning or working together dynamically in games. I have had to assume the role of a captain along with Ron (Zamir), and we work together to really help our teammates and the younger guys develop as players through mentoring and acceptance of mistakes. Also, as a captain, I’ve had to learn the best ways to teach and mentor these guys by both being a friend and giving constructive feedback.

The Oracle: What has becoming captain been like?

Nadav Efrat: It’s been really cool, as I’ve been on varsity for all four years. Throughout my years, I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go, and see what they bring to the table as leaders. I’ve really been able to apply all that, and pick and choose the best aspects of each past captain, and work to perfect my position on the team. One thing that has been really crucial for development is the acceptance of mistakes. As I remember, past captains have tried to build a major persona of “Oh, look at me — I’m a perfect player who doesn’t make any mistakes,” and one thing I’ve been working on is showing the guys that yes, even though I’m the experienced guy, I still make mistakes, and that’s okay because we work as a team to fix these. One big aspect of water polo, especially on the defensive end, is working together and everyone helping each other.

The Oracle: What have been some highlights and challenges this season?

Celine Safa: A challenge has been taking on a larger role on the court and off the court — the leadership has been really new to me. It’s not an easy thing to always have to be loud on the court and sidelines, keep people focused during practice, and give pep talks. I feel like a lot is expected from me from that role, so that’s been kind of challenging, to try to live up to that and do the most for my team.

The Oracle: How has the transition to captain been?

Celine Safa: I’ve been on varsity all four years, and I remember (Coach) Baiba telling me when I was a freshman how important leadership is and for somebody to step up on the court. I’ve always had my role models — girls that are older than me that graduated — and I’ve kind of shaped the way I take the role after them. It comes with a lot of responsibility. It takes a lot of integrity to be the role model for others as well. I want to be the person that the underclassmen will look up to for help and as an example.

The Oracle: What has been the most memorable moment from this season?

Celine Safa: We had our home game against Paly, which is a big rivalry game. The whole week, we tried to hype it up as much as we could and advertise it to get as many people to come, and I have never seen that big of a crowd for one of our own games. The game was really close and super intense, but the support that we got from the student section was amazing. It was really fun to play with them, as I hadn’t experienced anything like that before. That was one of the most fun games that we played.