Fukuoka, Japan - From inside his hotel room in Fukuoka, Japan, David Lapins is a ball of excitement. Making his return to international competition, Lapins and Team Canada are days away from the start of the water polo competition at the 2023 FINA World Aquatic Championships.
It's a place David never thought he'd find himself again. After retiring from international competition in 2019 Lapins attended Carleton to pursue his Master's and rediscovered his love for water polo. While in the pool with the Ravens, Lapins earned OUA Co-MVP in 2022 while helping the Ravens collect an OUA silver medal.
"Stepping away from the national team and coming into a different environment, where there was less pressure was a really refreshing experience for me," reflects Lapins. During his time at Carleton, his teammates' passion and joy of playing really helped to reconnect the veteran with his love of the game.
"All the guys on the Carleton team were always super pumped to be playing," he recalls. "It was a really nice group to be around and I feel like I refound my love for the sport after many years where it was really intense with lots of expectations."
Having refound his love for the game at Carleton, Lapins continued to play in the Canadian national league, winning a national title alongside some of his teammates and his coach, Zoltan Csepregi.
"We had a couple of good seasons those past few years," David admits. "There's a really good community in Ottawa, with the club water polo and the university scene so I had lots of pool time to still be in the water and training."
Now working full-time in the Canadian Government, Lapins and his Canadian teammates have their work cut out for them in Japan. They'll open the tournament against China on late on July 16 - July 17th in Japan, before facing France and Italy.
"It's pretty tough, the world championships is probably the hardest tournament for men's water polo to win, even compared to the Olympics."
With more nations from Eastern Europe in the pool, the competition Canada will face later this month sees them set squarely as the underdogs. "We're hoping to beat China and do our best in the rest of the games, but we're definitely the underdogs in our group."
"Finishing top 8 is always the big goal heading into these championships," he explained. "But, if we can beat China and France we have a good shot at it." Despite the team's goals, Lapins is committed to ensuring he enjoys another at international competition.
Thinking about his experience, Lapins admits it's a new mindset for him ahead of this competition. "I'm just coming into this whole experience with a new perspective and refreshed outlook on just sports in general." Having made the decision to return to competition based solely on his own love for the game, he feels he understands better the privilege he has to represent Canada.
"I really appreciate this whole experience more now that I made the decision to come back on my own. It's a totally different perspective, now I'm one of the older guys on the team, so it's fun to be here and spend time with the younger players on the team who are coming up with goals for themselves."
With the championships days away, Lapins hopes his participation in the event will inspire a few more members of the Ottawa community to take up water polo.
"It's a great sport to bring kids into, not only to learn how to swim but also gain all those valuable lessons you learn from sport."
