|
He has endured two shoulder surgeries, 100 stitches to close facial wounds, and a spinal cyst that paralyzed his right leg. Peter Hudnut's body bears witness to the U.S. water polo player's favorite quote from Virgil: “Ruthless striving conquers all.”
As he awaited June's final cut for the Olympics squad, the 6-foot-5 former Cardinal standout described his job this way: “Imagine running 100 yards as fast as you can, wrestling a linebacker while trying to hold your breath, then sprinting another 100 yards.”
Los Angeles-based Hudnut, '03, first became enamored of water polo when he took coach Rich Corso's required class at Harvard-Westlake School. Corso, who in 1996 coached the U.S. Olympic team, took note of Hudnut's size, strength and motor skills and handed him an official 1984 Games satchel and a tape of the greatest goals ever scored. “From 10th grade on, his mission was to become a great player,” Corso says. “I've seen a lot of great players, but as far as passion for the game goes, no one touches Pete.”
 |
|
Photo: Manuello Paganelli |
At Stanford, where he majored in American studies, Hudnut earned All-America honors three times and helped lead the Cardinal to NCAA titles in 2001 and 2002. He credits his foreign policy courses with helping him understand international conflicts, knowledge that he put to use while touring with the U.S. team in Europe. Hudnut recalls long discussions with Croatian and Serbian players after the games had finished. “You have physical altercations during games, then you shake hands and form strange, competitive friendships,” he says.
In 2003, while training for the 2004 Olympics, Hudnut developed excruciating pain in his right hip and leg. An MRI revealed a cyst growing between two fractured vertebrae, pressing on his sciatic nerve. Hudnut traced the injury to a game in which an opponent had kneed his spine. Surgery proved successful, and during his convalescence Hudnut buoyed his spirits by reading Touching the Void, a book about a mountain climber's miraculous survival.
He began rehab two months later—he did sit-ups and stability exercises beside the pool while fellow players lifted weights and swam. But the injury had set him back, and he was cut from the team. “Pete had his heart broken, but at the end of the day he stayed and trained with us. Most people wouldn't have done that,” recalls teammate Adam Wright. “Everybody has a deep respect for him.”
Hudnut maintains he wasn't disappointed by the outcome. “I went from not being able to walk to becoming an alternate on the Olympics water polo team, all in 10 months.”
Since then he has played with professional teams in Rome and Barcelona when not training with the U.S. national team. In 2006, Hudnut switched from playing center forward—stationed near the goal to score—to center back, guarding the opposing team's center forward to prevent goals. “There's a lot more pushing and grabbing—a lot of wrestling,” says Hudnut, who plans to continue playing professionally, then seek an MBA at Stanford with an eye toward working in the sports business.
But first he hopes to busy himself on the U.S. Olympic team “making the other team's center forward as tired as possible.” Team USA faces a bracket that includes powerhouses Serbia and Croatia as it seeks its first medal since 1988.
“There's a huge task ahead of us,” Hudnut says, grinning to reveal a front tooth discolored from a hit that led to a root canal. “Notice how my smile gets bigger. That's the point of playing, for the challenge and the desire.”
|
