Azevedo Named Coach of U.S. Men’s Water Polo Team

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., November 16. WITH 21 years of experience working at the national level, Rick Azevedo has been named the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Water Polo Team. Azevedo has spent the last seven years as the men’s and women’s coach at Long Beach State University and was a U.S. men’s assistant from 2000-04.

"I truly believe that the committee did everything it could to find the best person for the job," said Lou Goia, the Men's International Committee Chair and Search Committee Chair. "The process resulted in a unanimous vote to recommend Rick for the job. We believe that if all of USA Water Polo gets behind Rick and his staff, he will turn the team around."

Azevedo’s resume includes a stint as Junior National Team coach from 1984-92 and he was a member of the U.S. coaching staff at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In 1998, he was named Olympic Development Coach of the Year. Azevedo has also succeeded at the high school level, leading Woodrow Wilson to a quartet of CIF championships in the 1990s.

"I am so proud and cannot say how excited I am to get things going," said Azevedo. "I understand that at this point men's water polo is going through a little bit of a lull, but I really feel that with tremendous
athletes and coaches, we can bring the U.S. back to a world class level, which they deserve to be at."

Azevedo is a 1975 graduate of Wilson High and his son, Tony, is a two-time Olympian and plays professionally in Italy. His daughter, Cassie, is a two-time All-American at Long Beach State.

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