CHICAGO – One day, after another grueling practice with his water polo team in Italy, Ben Hallock hopped on a scooter and drove to the top of a nearby mountain.Unfurled below the promising American center was the picturesque Liguria coast.“The scenery, I mean, it's unbelievable,” Hallock said.The landscape for his teammates back home is pretty impressive, too.Hallock, 23, is among 18 U.S.
men’s water polo players who joined professional teams in Europe after COVID-19 hampered their training in California. The size of the group is an unprecedented showing for a country that usually places just a handful of players in the top leagues each year.Their teams include some of the top programs in the world.