July 17, 2014
Earlier this year USA Water Polo member and Dr. Phillips High School (Florida) star Ian Supra was diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. Facing immediate treatment and mounting medical bills, the water polo community rallied to assist the young athlete known as SupraMan. In just a couple of months nearly $100,000 was raised for his support. Here’s Supra in his own words on his journey from everyday high school water polo player to cancer fighter—and the amazing outpouring that’s come his way.
By Ian Supra
Water polo is absolutely the greatest sport. I remember the first time I played. I had just been cut from my high school baseball team, so my best friend Nik Lachinski convinced me to play water polo with him. I had no idea what it was, only hearing a mention of it during swim season in the fall. But I decided to give it a try since one of my best friends was doing it.
Once I got to the pool I noticed a few familiar faces from swim season, a few of whom were neighbors, and a few friends from middle school. But the most amazing part of practice that day was the hype among the others to finally play water polo after a long, grueling swim season. It was as if water polo was the reward for surviving swim season—and I soon realized how true that is. Scoring goals was much more exciting than swimming laps until your limbs fall off!
But I quickly learned water polo is not all fun and games from my coach Leo Ramirez. We put in loads of work. My very first day I was introduced to the dirty dozen—a treacherous drill that involves numerous lunges, push-ups, get-outs, and sprints. But it's those drills that put us in the state finals and made us capable to advance to the final four. Think of it: My very first year I was on one of the best teams in the state and got to play alongside All-Americans Jack Orchard—who now plays for the Naval Academy—and Ryan Staton. I was so inspired by how great they were. But they were just two of more than a dozen other teammates who pushed me to endure the toughest drills and train as hard as I could. Luckily my hard work paid off. I was named Rookie of the Year and even scored 36 goals. I was completely in love with the sport after my award and getting to be a part of such an amazing team. But if I was going to continue to play, I didn't want to settle for 36 goals—I wanted to score four times that number and be the best in the state (the country, for that matter). I decided to play all throughout the summer and even attend a water polo camp at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Water polo had become my life—and little did I know swimming was about to become my other life.
In the last three years I’ve gone from Rookie of the Year to All-American and from amateur swimmer to finishing as high as third in the state finals. I hold three school records for swimming. I'm a four-year varsity letter holder for both sports. I was team captain for both sports, and we made it to the state finals for both sports the last three years.
And this year, my senior year, was going to be the one that would see us win the water polo state championship. I had worked so hard the previous three years for this moment. My club team, YCF, had just won the Lake Brantley Tournament a week before the high school season was set to begin. My teammates and I were psyched from our win and proud to call ourselves champions. This threw gasoline on the flame in our hearts to become state champs.
Everything was perfect; I had my best friends playing with me. Nik Lachinski in goal and Evan Staton in the field with me. But then one thing stopped me from my dream of winning a state championship—cancer.
On January 29, I was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal and liver cancer. I couldn't believe it; I didn't want to accept it. I was going to have to miss my senior year of water polo and the opportunity to win a state championship. I was absolutely dejected.
How do I have cancer? How could this happen to me? Am I going to be okay? These thoughts flooded my brain. The moment I heard the words “You have cancer” my life seemed to stop—but in those moments I thought of what lay ahead for me. Four rounds of chemo, baldness, and lots of vomiting.
Needless to say I wasn’t excited about the next few months. But I received a very unexpected outpouring of love and compassion.
Within just a few days Team Supra had already raised several thousand dollars by selling “Supra Strong” wristbands, having bake sales at school, and through donations. I was so touched by this overwhelming support.
There are a lot of emotions you experience when you have cancer; luckily for me I’ve managed to experience happiness. The love from my family and friends has provided me with more than just happiness though; it has given me the will to fight this unforgiving, insidious disease and stay positive throughout the whole ride.
Some people in particular I have to thank publicly for their love, support and compassion. My lifelong best friend and brother Rico Sisinni; my girlfriend Tina Ashour; another one of my best friends Mateo Mayorga; my second mothers Carmen Bruner, Ilia Sisinni and Athena Staton; my teacher Heather Rodriguez; my teammates, and of course my amazing parents Chris and Jackie Supra. There are so many more people to thank—the list is longer than I have room for here. So thank you to all who are Team Supra supporters, my other brothers and sisters (best friends), and the entire USA Water Polo community.
I never could have imagined how supportive USA Water Polo could be. I’ve received personal emails from legendary Olympians such as Tony Azevedo, Terry Schroeder, and Merrill Moses. Just having living legends reaching out like that is epic to me! I dream that one day I can be as good as them. Water polo has reached out not just on a national scale, but also in special ways inside the state of Florida. Rival teams have shown their compassion through donations, letters, gifts, and unending encouragement. But some of the most supportive people from the water polo community, whom I mentioned only briefly before are my coaches Leo Ramirez, Jeff Passwater, Natalie Nickson, and Apryle Nickson. They pushed me so hard these past four years; I used to question why I go through hell during my workouts. I finally learned why. All this time I’ve been preparing and training to battle cancer. Without my coaches I would have never had the courage or strength to fight so hard. They’ve taught me to never give up and always take on my obstacles with 110 percent effort. My coaches and teammates have become family to me, and I love them to death—and I will play and be an advocate for water polo until the day I die.
So here I sit, writing these words after four rounds of chemo, baldness, and losing weight from vomiting. But it was all worth it. There has been a massive reduction in the size of the tumors. After having five larger spots on my liver, presence in my lymph nodes, and a horrible looking esophagus, I'm down to no presence in the lymph nodes, some residual cancer in my liver, and an almost microscopic spot left in my esophagus. I can assure you I couldn’t contain my happiness when I found out that yet again my hard work is paying off and that the Big Man Upstairs has my back. I’m scheduled to begin my fifth and final round of chemotherapy on June 4. This gives me time to enjoy my longest break from treatments and torture yet. I’ll have time to enjoy my water polo banquet, senior walkout, and graduation. I can’t wait to treat myself for putting up with hell.
Now as I look back on my life, I realize that everything I’ve ever done and everyone I’ve ever met all was for a reason. I am just now learning why certain things have happened—like why I have cancer.
I, Ian Supra, have cancer so I can inspire others going through the same thing—or just any obstacle in general—so that they know they are not alone and there is someone out there rooting for them. I’ve learned that you must live your life full of love and no regrets; life is too short too worry. And as I look back upon my senior year, I realize I never would have taken any of it back. Although I didn’t win the state championship, it’s okay. My boys finished third in states and I still managed to play in a few games in between my treatment schedule—the most memorable being the final match of my high school career. Luckily it ended with a win over our rival school in the district championship match. I even scored two goals! (Not trying to brag or anything—but they were some pretty sweet shots.)
Getting cancer also has brought me closer to my friends and family and it’s been part of uniting an entire community—an experience I’ll remember forever.
Hopefully the next time I write something like this it will be to tell you how I’m pursuing my dream of playing collegiate water polo and how it’s given me the strength to beat something that had all statistics and odds against me—cancer.
This article appears in the Summer 2014 issue of SkipShot Magazine
