In the spring, some students end their day by swapping out their books and laptops with a baseball bat or lacrosse stick. Others, like the talented few that head coach Kevin McCluer and assistant coach Dan “Goose” Goosherst mentor, meet inside the Carey Aquatic Center to practice water polo.

This year the team recognizes the fiftieth anniversary of the historic 1975 water polo team. Back then, captains Mike Vlamis and Mike Blake led the team to MC’s first ever state championship in any sport, as well as the first ever state championship to be won by a high school in Chicago. Coach McCluer and his players are looking to capture a similar competitive spirit that the ’75 team had.

“We have a lot of games where we’re gonna be very competitive,” he said. “Some games where we may not be as competitive, but we should have a lot of fun.”

Along with their regular season schedule, the team is looking forward to competing in the first of three tournaments on their schedule, which is The Dan Noble Varsity Water Polo Tournament at St. Patrick High School on March 15th. Some of the teams expected to compete are the Senn Bulldogs, Brother Rice Crusaders, and the Lane Tech Champions.

“I think we’ll be fine,” senior Leslie Cleveland said. “I think the only team we might have a problem with is Rice because we’re probably gonna go in there being cocky. As long as we all keep level-headed, I think we’ll all be fine.”

For now the team has no captains, but there are certainly a few players that stand out. Senior Kaleb McCluer scored 85 goals last season, the most of anyone else on the team, and is looking to continue his offensive success into his senior season.

“I guess you could say it’s like a confidence thing,” he said. “If you have a lot of confidence that you’re going to score, and you have less confidence in passing, you’re more likely to just shoot it. Even if I’m not in a spot where you wouldn’t be able to shoot it because you’re far [from the net].”

This season, the team plans on improving on last year’s 5-15-1 record.

“We brought back an old coach, his nickname’s Goose, he’s an alumni from here,” junior Terrance Doughtery said. “And then there’s Coach McCluer, who was an Olympic swimmer. Coaching-wise, we definitely improved the staff a lot. This year we have Quincy [Poole, senior,] and Kaleb, who were both solid players on our team last year. With me coming back playing again, and Leslie and Greg all playing, I think we’re gonna have a lot of opportunities.”

As the team enters into their new season, they want to pay their respects to the water polo team of ’75.

“In Mount Carmel’s deep athletic tradition, it’s always good to know that their very, very first championship was water polo,” Coach McCluer said. “They’ve had multiple championships in football, and wrestling, but they’ve never had another water polo. It’s something to hang your hat on.”

The captains of the ’75 team were Mike Blake and Mike “The V Man” Vlamis, and the story they have to tell about the semi-final and final games of the state championship are intense. 

Their semi-final game was against the Fenwick Friars. Prior to this game, the Friars had 144 straight wins. The Caravan were able to end their streak with a close 17-16 victory. MC then entered the finals against the Oak Park-River Forest Huskies at Glenbrook North. During their uphill battle, Vlamis famously bit Blake in the shoulder and made him bleed. In response, Blake licked the blood off his finger as an intense way of motivating their team. This propelled the Caravan to another squeaker of a win,  11-10, garnering Mount Carmel High School’s first ever state championship.

“We talk about it all the time,” Blake said. “Every time you run into people and they’re old Carmel guys, we always say the same thing, especially if Vlamis and myself are together. We say, ‘You know what, man? It’s great that you guys accomplished what you did. And there’s no question about that. But always remember, we were first.’”

After the team won at state, Chicago’s Mayor, Richard J. Daley, invited them to City Hall for an awards ceremony. The team had just won Chicago’s first ever state championship after all.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal back then,” Vlamis said. “But as the decades passed and people allude to it, I go, ‘hey man, that was a big deal.’ When it happened, I didn’t think about winning the state championship in the first 75 years of Mount Carmel’s existence, and then winning the first state championship for a Chicago high school.”

The current water polo team wants to take what they can from the ’75 team. At the same time, they are entering their own season with high hopes.

“I’m excited for a good year,” Coach McCluer said. “As long as you have kids that want to play it, might as well show them how to do it. Then maybe we’ll win a tournament, or two, and then they’ll try to throw me in the pool.”