In one of the most fascinating conversations we can recall we speak with the highly successful Head Coach at St. Mark’s School and Trident Water Polo Club in Dallas.

Mihai Oprea has turned St. Mark’s in to one of the most consistently excellent high school teams in Texas having won five of the last six state championships, a subject we discuss at length.

But more absorbing than his coaching success in Texas is the story behind his departure from Romania, where the decades-old communist government fell in 1989 after a violent end to the life of its totalitarian leader Nicolai Ceausescu.

Oprea shares his own exciting and terrifying experience on the ground in Bucharest as the “coup” takes place. Plus, more on his experience as a young Romanian water polo athlete, why he chose Texas, the UIL’s recent decision to add water polo, and much more.

Music:

Scott Holmes

Twelvehourmary

#washyourhands