The Piedmont High School boys water polo team is looking forward to another successful season despite a change at the top. Longtime coach John Savage is stepping back this year after his child was born in December. Rik Krumins, who has served as an assistant in several previous seasons will take the reins with Savage only coming out once or twice per week.
Savage joked that he will be a “consultant” this year.
Krumins is more than familiar with the program. His son Peter was a standout on the North Coast Section Division 2 championship team in 2023. His daughter Esme is a junior on the Piedmont girls team.
“We’re actually really excited about this group,” Rik Krumins said. “We have a few seniors coming back.” Elles Krieckhaus is one of those.
“He has been on varsity for the past four years,” Krumins said. “He’s going to be our key goal scorer. He’ll be playing two-meters and doing a lot of post up on the side as well as leading our counter attack.”
Goalkeeper Luke McAuliffe is a senior entering his third year as a starter. “He has been playing club,” Krumins said. “He gets out of the water pretty high. He’s a very vocal goalie. Controlling the defense, directing where our players are at certain times.”
Zach Dupree, another senior, will be seeing an increase in playing time. “He’s an up and coming varsity player,” Krumins said. “He’ll be two-meter offense and prob two-meter defense.”
A couple of returning sophomores will also be key players. Krumins called Rylan Patty, “a very aggressive offensive player, he’ll be doing a lot of post up, driving, counter attacking.”
Zach Dupree (2) at the Napa Tournament 
Rylan Patty rises out of the water
Krumins said of Henry Stein that he’s a left-hander and “played a lot of minutes last year as a freshman. He really holds down the 4-5 side and the wing.”
Freshman Ben Kappes should make an immediate impact. “He has been playing club for the last three-four years,” Krumins said. “He’ll be coming in with a skill set to contribute to the team on the defensive side and the offensive side.”
Krumins said the team will use a drop defense while splitting the top. The advantage the Highlanders have is rather than just one player to center the offense and counter around, they have several and can push the tempo. Krumins said maturity and growth will need to improve over the course of the season. “Slowing the tempo down and making the right decisions,” he said.
The goals are the same. “Competing for league championships, competing for an NCS title,” Krumins said. “We’re a pretty well-balanced team. We have four, five, six, seven players that can contribute at any one time.”
The team will again play without a home pool as construction continues. Krumins said he has been told completion is about 10 weeks out but isn’t counting on any home matches.
“My goal would be to have an alumni game as the first in the new pool,” he said, targeting November or December.