In the three years Dimitrios Lappas spent on the Long Beach State men’s water polo team, the relationship between him and his teammates went from shyness, to jokes and teasing, to becoming family.
Lappas said that during the first two months after he arrived in Long Beach from his home in Greece, most of the people on the team didn’t really talk to him. He said he had only two or three friends.
“He was really shy, so we just let him fit in on his own,” teammate Nick Rascon said. “We were nice to him and helped him with anything he needed, but we kind of just let him get used to everything over here.”
Lappas said the speech barriers stopped him from conversing.
“I was really quiet [and] shy,” he said. “It was the first time I was actually around people that were speaking English, so it was really hard for me. I was really sad because if I would say something wrong, they had that look on their faces.”
After he started talking a little more, the jokes started coming.
“At the very beginning they didn’t mess around [with me] because they didn’t know me,” Lappas said. “After the first two months when I started talking a little bit, they started teasing me.”
Once the language barrier between him and his teammates came down, he began to relax.
“He was really quiet because he was afraid to talk in English, so he was really nervous,” Rascon said. “Once he got his feet wet and got used to our culture, he was able to talk in English. He’s a big goofball now. He knows we love him, and we’re here for him.”
He feels the team has worked to build relationships with him over the past three years and helped him feel more comfortable in a new country.
“They were talking [and] opening their hearts to me,” Lappas said. “Right now, Nick and I, we are best friends.”
Outside of the pool, Lappas says he’s still a shy guy, but could flip a switch during competition.
“I’m really aggressive,” Lappas said. “I shout [and] yell a lot, but I’m not selfish. I’m a team player.”
Rascon said he admires that quality in Lappas.
“Dimitrios is the ultimate team player,” Rascon said. “He puts everybody first before himself.”
Lappas played for the Panionios Water Polo Club Team and won the Junior League of Greece title five times from 2006-11. He sports a tattoo of that team’s logo on his right bicep.
LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo took interest in Lappas, a 6-foot-2 utility player, because of his reputation playing in Greece.
“He’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever coached,” Arroyo said. “He knows the game very well, he sees situations before they’re happening and he’s a great decision-maker.”
Lappas’ first experience with the sport was at 10 years old.
“I was too hyperactive in my house, and my parents signed me [up] for a water polo team,” Lappas said, “and that’s how it started.”
Lappas said his experience made him a better player and helped him mature. He emphasized that he felt part of a close team on the national squad and said he finds that same chemistry with his current team.
“It’s like that here,” Lappas said. “We’re a family, and I love them. They helped me a lot when I came here. They are my second family – all these guys.”
He said his two main struggles so far have been LBSU practices and finding housing and roommates.
“Here, practice is hard – physically, mentally – they’re pushing us a lot,” Lappas said. “It was a struggle to be here practicing and in school. It wasn’t like that in Greece. In Greece we had only one practice every day and school in the morning, but here we have to be at the university from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s crazy.”
Through all the hardships, Lappas said he’ll always cherish the moments he has with his team, recalling one of his best moments during his freshman year when the team came in 5th in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.
“That was the first time in my life I saw these guys to be happy and telling me that we did something big,” Lappas said. “I didn’t realize how big it was, but after I [did] it was really nice. When I saw everyone was happy and was cheering, I will never forget that feeling.”