USA Water Polo Hall of Fame Induction Dinner This Weekend

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California, June 7. THE USA Water Polo Hall Of Fame returns this weekend to induct six members for the class of 2010 at a dinner June 12, 2010 at the Del Mar Marriott in San Diego, California. Former San Jose State water polo star, USOC Chairman and Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth headlines a class that includes Ueberroth's coach at San Jose State and Olympic Club great Edward Rudloff, along with Olympic silver medalists Heather Moody and Kathy "Gubba" Sheehy, longtime National Team and UC-Davis coach Jamey Wright and veteran Referee Bret Bernard.

Peter Ueberroth will deliver the evening's keynote address. Each inductee will be recognized by a peer of their own choosing and a short video highlighting their career.

A man with an unparalleled history in the Olympic movement, Peter Ueberroth got his start in aquatics at San Jose State University. A star of the Spartan water polo team, Ueberroth fell just short of an Olympic berth while competing at the 1956 trials. After several years in the private sector, Ueberroth reemerged in the early 80's to guide the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles to unprecedented success as organizer of the Games. Named Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1984, Ueberroth then embarked on a five year stint as Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Most recently, he served as Chairman of the United States Olympic Committee, concluding after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Part owner of the famed Pebble Beach Golf Course, Ueberroth is a life trustee of the University of Southern California. His vision for the Olympic Games has helped reinvigorate the Olympic movement and brought unprecedented financial stability to the US Olympic Committee.

Edward Rudloff led the San Francisco Olympic Club to one of the great streaks in water polo history. Under his leadership, his teams piled up 63 wins in the fall seasons from 1957-60 taking on the New York Athletic Club, the Illinois Athletic Club, the Toronto Athletic Club, the El Segundo Water Polo Club and all major universities in the State of California. In 1957 and 1959 Rudloff led the Olympic Club to two AAU Outdoor National Championships. The 1957 championship broke an Olympic Club title drought of 33 years. Dr. Rudloff was stationed in India and Burma during WWII with Uhro Saari, the famous El Segundo coach. Both men were invited onto the Royal Calcutta Club where international competition was furious, and they adopted a style of play that has persisted to this day. Edward Rudloff was inducted in 1948 into the San Jose State Hall of Fame in two sports, into the Sonoma State University Hall of Fame as its first inductee and was part of the San Francisco Olympic Club's first Hall of Fame induction class.

Among the top women's water polo players of the 1990s, Kathy "Gubba" Sheehy parlayed an outstanding collegiate career at San Diego State University to a berth on the Women's National Team. While playing for Team USA, Sheehy was part of the first women's water polo squad to play in the Olympic Games, earning a silver medal in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. She remains devoted to the sport competing on the club level with the New York Athletic Club and Old Mission Beach Aquatic Club. She has also served in a variety of coaching roles, most recently as head coach of the USA Women's Senior National "B" Team.

For more than 25 years Jamey Wright has been synonymous with UC-Davis women's water polo, piloting the squad to unparalleled success in the 1980s, guiding a transition to Division 1 status in the 1990s, and contending for an NCAA Championship well into the new millennium. Along the way Wright took on a variety of responsibilities in assisting the growth and improvement of the game. For ten years Wright served as head coach of the USA Women's Senior National "B" Team, was the skipper for the West Team at the 1989 Olympic Festival, and continues to lead the Davis Club water polo team, a group routinely in the mix for medals each year.

Bret Bernard has been called on to whistle every major water polo championship in existence, including the Olympic Games in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). Bernard has officiated multiple World Championships, World Cups, Junior World Championships, and Goodwill Games among other competitions. Domestically, Bernard has worn the whites for every conceivable USA Water Polo Championship, including Junior Olympic and National Championships. Bernard also made great contributions to the organizational structure of USA Water Polo serving on a variety of committees and boards. He was elected USA Water Polo President from 1996-2001. Most recently, Bernard had an annual USA Water Polo Award named in his honor, recognizing outstanding officiating at the elite level.

A member of the Women's Senior National Team from 1996-2004, Heather Moody earned two Olympic medals in helping to cement the USA Women as the preeminent nation in the world of women's water polo. Earning a Silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and Bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Moody added a World Championship to her resume in 2003. Twice named USA Water Polo's Player of the Year, Moody contributed to a National Championship for the New York Athletic Club in 2002 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2007. Moody also guided the USA Women's program to a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships as head coach and served as an assistant coach on the silver medal-winning Women's team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Inductees were chosen through a process that included open nominations by their peers, evaluation of their candidacy by the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame Committee, and final ratification of the committee's recommendations by the USA Water Polo Board of Directors. The Committee is co-chaired by Brent Bohlender and Chris Dorst, and includes Jody Campbell, Dion Gray, Maggie Kelly, Charles Schroeder and Scott Schulte. This is the first Hall of Fame induction since 2004. USA Water Polo inducted its first Hall of Fame class in 1976.

Hall of Fame ticket information is available at www.usawaterpolo.org.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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