Water polo: A fierce PanCan show of support for Lindgren

The PanCan Games featured two water polo programs who regularly finish atop the Mid-Suburban League leaderboard at season's end - Prospect and Hersey, who share the facility located at Prospect in all things aquatic.

On this Monday evening, even their fierce rivalry took a distant back seat to more important matters as supporters from both programs waged a fierce battle of hope in honor of Rob Lindgren.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November, the figure so central to Dist. 214 aquatics in recent years was given an overwhelming show of solidarity.

Most recently, Lindgren has been Wheeling girls swimming coach. But the total number of teams he's led over the years at some level is probably in the dozens, and he's affected the entire district through his role as aquatics coordinator.

With online contributions still flowing in, more than $6,000 had been raised by the PanCan Games through donations, t-shirt and wristband sales and a raffle. All the dollars go directly to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and efforts at research breakthroughs.

Anyone picturing Lindgren quietly accepting his diagnosis and lounging in misery would be incorrect. He was still in his element on Monday, for example, working the scoring table. Over the weekend, he was a referee in the Glenbrook South boys tournament.

It seems the man who has given so much to swimming and water polo can't stop giving, even now.

Certainly it has helped that Hersey's girls team is having such a remarkable run. The Huskies lost their first game of the season on Saturday but improved to 23-1 overall and wrapped up a 10-0 spree through the Mid-Suburban East by topping Prospect 12-7 on Monday. Hersey earned its first appearance in the Mid-Suburban League championship game since 2013 and will meet Conant for the overall conference title next week.

Senior Katie Lindgren and freshman Annie Lindgren - Rob's daughters - are among the key players responsible for Hersey's breathtaking season, and yes, their achievement has made these last couple of months a little easier for their dad to take.

"I'm having an absolute blast with it," Rob Lindgren said.

So are his daughters. Katie credits an excellent team dynamic with this year's success, as veterans such as goalie Claire Lutz along with Emily Born, Madison Burkhalter and a full complement of skilled role players has made Hersey tough to beat.

"It was a goal to get to the MSL championship game, but 10-0?" Katie Lindgren said. "Yep, we're definitely having a lot of fun with it."

In the boys game, Hersey earned a 10-6 victory over the Knights to wrap up a second-place finish in the East. The Huskies had a strong performance at Glenbrook South over the weekend and improved to 16-4 overall while finishing 8-2 in the East.

Huskies senior starter RJ Quinn says he feels a debt of gratitude to Lindgren for introducing him to the sport via the District Unified Water Polo club.

"It was just really clear to everybody how much he loved the game," Quinn said. "I know I responded to that, and it was like that for all the kids our age at the time. He's had such a big influence on so many people."

Both Prospect coaches - Steve Grzybek for the boys team, and Tori Shields for the girls team - say they feel a strong kinship with Lindgren.

Both those Knights teams are having strong seasons themselves, with the boys at 10-10 overall and third place in the East, and the girls 10-12 and also third in the division.

Like so many others in attendance Monday, Shields credits Lindgren with getting her interested in water polo.

"Rob was really my introduction to the sport," she told the audience during a presentation to Lindgren held between games.

Hersey girls coach Megan Brownley played her high school polo at Buffalo Grove and says Lindgren is the main reason she's coaching now.

And she's collected plenty of tangible evidence to demonstrate how the larger water polo community feels about Rob Lindgren.

"For the last couple of weeks, at tournaments and as we're playing our games, I've had refs and other coaches coming up to me and slipping me envelopes and saying, 'This is for Rob.'

"All of us here tonight owe him a lot, and we're here to fight for him."