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Junior center Ted Peck is the second-leading scorer on the UCLA men’s water polo team. Peck

Southern California living is not always about kick-back days on the beach.

Although Ted Peck enjoys bodysurfing in Newport, water polo has been more rewarding for him because he has had to work hard to stay with it.

While attending UCLA, the junior center found it easy to make friends and pass his classes. But at first he was a work in progress in the pool.

“When Ted arrived at UCLA, he was big and slow. Now I would say he is strong and in incredible shape,” coach Adam Krikorian said. “When he first came, he was one-dimensional, not good in defense or speed. Now he’s improved so much in those areas, and he’s becoming a complete player.”

For the past two years, the 6-foot-6 Peck has battled to improve his physical conditioning. The coaching staff played him in all 21 games as a freshman, but Peck did not feel he was up to collegiate standards.

“It’s a steep learning curve from high school to college,” Peck said. “I really had to adjust quickly. My coach was on my ass constantly, and it was tough trying to get into shape.”

As the team’s starting center, Peck was expected to contribute to the offense. Krikorian constantly put Peck under pressure to score more goals. Even under such strong demands, Peck learned how to use his size to his advantage and become a more powerful and faster center.

“No matter what, you just have to keep fighting,” Peck said. “Whether the coach is getting on you or you’re angry, you can’t just start moping around. That’s one thing I’ll probably take from my coach and from the program. I’ve learned that no matter what the circumstances, ... when you’re down in the dumps, you just have to keep playing.”

Peck also had to learn to harness his competitiveness and not let his emotions get the best of him. Peck is still the same player who earned 15 ejections as a freshman but is now more in control.

“He’s a fiery player,” Krikorian said. “Sometimes we butt heads because he’s a pretty stubborn guy. He’s very competitive. He practices and plays with a lot of emotion.”

This season Peck has helped the Bruins (12-4, 4-0 MPSF) to an undefeated conference record. He has scored 15 goals and tallied three assists as one of the Bruins’ leading scoring options.

The team’s goal is to go undefeated in conference play. And that objective is within reach this year.

“It’s a tangible thing but it’s also really critical right now,” Peck said. “We had a really brutal training camp in the summer. But the object was to have us peak at the most crucial point of the season.”

By all accounts they’ve done just that.

Their wins over two No. 1 teams, USC and Cal, in the past two weeks has solidified their status as one of the nation’s elite teams. Peck was held scoreless against the Trojans but left his mark physically in the game.

“’SC tries to make you play their game by frustrating you and pushing you around,” Peck said. “They are a great physical team, and we had to be physical back. We couldn’t blow up and freak out. Keeping our composure was key because we knew we were better than ’SC.”

Defeating the Trojans was a monumental victory for Peck and his teammates, but the only thought in Peck’s and his team’s minds right now is their next big game against Stanford.

“Beating Stanford this weekend would make us unstoppable,” he said.