Mark Flautner wasn’t just new to water polo when he entered high school but he was new to the United States. Now a senior, Flautner grew up in Hungary but has fit right in at Pioneer High School – in and out of the water.
“I really enjoyed living in Hungary as it was my first home,” he says. “I hung out a lot with friends, did sports (pentathlon), and went to school. I moved from Hungary to the US at the start of high school, following my brother who came a year earlier. I moved out to the states to get a new experience in learning, and since then I really enjoyed it.”
Flautner also has enjoyed water polo – and is very good at it. He is closing in on 100 goals for the season and is one of the keys to the team’s great success.
“I didn’t know I was gonna play water polo for a while,” he says. “I first thought that basketball was my sport. My brother, who played for Pioneer, introduced me to coach Don Packard and they convinced me to play, and since then I loved it.”
Flautner says the season is “going really well.”
“Although we had some rough games overall we won most of them,” he says. “The team is getting stronger and starting to develop its own playing style. The personality of the team is really winning focused since we finished second last year at states.”
Finishing second last year at States brings us to the goal for this year.
“Our goal is of course to win states,” Flautner says. “And to achieve that we have to work more and focus on what we need to improve on.”
Mark, 18, is the son of Krisztian Flautner and Krisztina Gerhardt.
“My plan after high school is to study engineering in college and play club water polo,” he says.
