{"id":254440,"date":"2017-05-05T12:25:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T19:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=254440"},"modified":"2017-05-10T11:44:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T18:44:10","slug":"catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching Up With Water Polo Olympian Tony Azevedo"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor.<\/em><\/p>\n

By many measures the greatest player in American water polo history, last summer at the Rio Olympics Tony Azevedo<\/strong> joined an exclusive club \u2014 only eight other water polo athletes have competed in five or more Olympics (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016). With 70 goals in Olympic play, a silver medal in 2008 and the all-time scoring record at the FINA World Championships, the Brazilian-born Azevedo missed out on on a single goal: helping bring Team USA a gold medal.<\/p>\n

Announcing his retirement last February, Azevedo’s accomplishments include two NCAA championships at Stanford University (2001, 2002), an unprecedented four Peter J. Cutino Awards (given to the nation\u2019s top college player) and an international career spanning more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Swimming World<\/em> spoke with Azevedo about his playing career, his plans for the future, what it means to be Tony Azevedo, and his thoughts about the upcoming NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament.<\/p>\n

You had a fantastic career at Stanford and then went on to play for Team USA and professionally. Talk about your two decades playing polo at the sport\u2019s highest levels.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I got the opportunity to ball boy in the \u201996 Olympics. There I met Manuel Estiarte,<\/strong> the only water polo player who went to six Olympics. That inspired me to set goals to be the person I am today.<\/p>\n

High school was amazing but it was always a stepping stone. I had the dream of winning a gold medal at the very top of my list. But I had so many little goals that I had to focus on immediately that would not allow me to lose sight [of the big picture].<\/p>\n

Winning my first championship was great. Being the co-MVP my sophomore year in high school, that was a special moment, but when John Vargas from the national team invited me to be a part of [Team USA], that\u2019s when I knew. And that\u2019s when I set a list of 10 players who I thought were in front of me. \u00a0Every day in every practice I did everything I could to beat that player in front of me. And then I\u2019d check him off. Then come the next day and I\u2019d check that guy off.<\/p>\n

I remember one of the low points in my career was going to FINA Cup before the 2000 Olympics and having one of the worst games of my life. I was accustomed to being a scorer, that\u2019s what I did in my career, and all of the sudden I had other roles for the national team.<\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t score right away I\u2019d get mental. I thought for sure I wasn\u2019t going to make that team, but I had a lot of long talks with Monte Nitzkowski<\/strong> [legendary swimmer and water polo coach]. Mentally I realized that I could do so much more for the team than just score.<\/p>\n

I believe that moment really made me who I am because what matters is making the team the best that it can be. What I do personally really doesn\u2019t matter in a team sport. You can be a star but unless your team gets to the top, no one\u2019s going to remember who you are.<\/p>\n

That first championship at Stanford with some of my best friends and then winning it my first two years was a dream.<\/p>\n

You accomplished<\/strong> what no one ever has\u2014and likely never will again: win FOUR Cutino awards. Will there ever be another Tony Azevedo?
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"tony-stanford\"

Azevedo at Stanford<\/p><\/div>\n

I looked up to Pete Cutino so much, and having the opportunity to win not one but all four, and to have no one else win three\u2026 that’s something I\u2019ll always be humbled about.<\/p>\n

There will never be another Tony Azevedo because that\u2019s my name and that\u2019s who I am. There\u2019s the aspect that I want to be the only one to ever do that, but is that good for the sport? No. I want our sport to grow and I want it to include the biggest and best players out there.<\/p>\n

I believe there will be another four- or five-time Olympian. It\u2019s going to take a while because we need to start investing more in the youth. I played in an era where I was lucky; I had a father who was my idol. He taught me from when I was eight years-old. And I traveled all over the world watching the sport.<\/p>\n

John Vargas<\/strong> and Nitzkowski\u2014among the top five greatest coaches in United States history\u2014became my coaches at [age] 16. I went from them to Dante Dettamanti<\/strong> at Stanford to Ratko Rudic<\/strong>, who\u2019s considered the greatest coach in the world. Through all these coaches, the fact that I was so motivated at a young age, because I was exposed to what you could be as a water polo player, there was no stopping me.<\/p>\n

I hope that there\u2019s a future me; I just think the focus needs to be on our future generations.<\/p>\n

What is it that separates the kids that make the national team from everyone else?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What really separates the great is that competitiveness, an attitude that: “I\u2019m going to be the best; I\u2019m going to do whatever it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also watching the game. There wasn\u2019t a college game near me that I wasn\u2019t watching. There wasn\u2019t a high school team that when our team played I would stay and watch all those games. I was going around to all the best coaches and taking part in these camps because I wanted to play the sport. I didn\u2019t need months off.<\/p>\n

Of course I had time for my family and friends but if you have a dream, there\u2019s nothing that should stop you from doing that. And I knew I could be the best.<\/p>\n

What separates a lot of players is that intelligence, that knowledge of the game. That ability to not respond but to react. Great players never have to think about what they\u2019re going to do. It just comes naturally to them.<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of water polo in order to do that.<\/p>\n

You see the the sport from a rarefied<\/span> perspective: not only being a great player but the connection to accomplished coaches, including your father Ricardo. What’s the best formula for water polo success in this country?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"r-acevedo-05-17\"

Ricardo Azevedo<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re dreaming of being an NBA player and you fall short you\u2019re probably still played for a good D1 school and you have connections. If your dream is to be a doctor and you fail, at least you went to a lot of schooling and will be successful in the next thing you do.<\/p>\n

We have to create idols for these kids. You want them to say: \u201cI want to be Tony Azevedo.\u201d Maybe they don\u2019t become a five-time Olympian but if they fall just a little bit short but still go to a top school and play in the Olympics, to me that would be very successful.<\/p>\n

We may get more players but we\u2019re still not going to win more medals. Players are still going to stop after college because there\u2019s nowhere for them to make money.<\/p>\n

My goal is to do things that have never been done [in water polo]. I\u2019m copying things from the NFL, the NBA, major league tennis. I want to show the kids and the people in water polo that there\u2019s a totally different way that we can approach this to make it more popular and to give our kids a future in this sport.<\/p>\n

Our sport is based on so many clubs but really kids outside of California they need more of an individual assessment. They need to know where they are compared to everyone else in the country and they need to be able to measure some kind of progress.<\/p>\n

Things that we\u2019re doing now, creating this NFL combine-like database for kids around the world so they can see themselves as compared to the [world\u2019s] best, these are things that will raise the bar for our sport.<\/p>\n

What about your new venture, the Aquatic Games, which will be held August 2-6 in Long Beach, CA?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Aquatic Games<\/strong><\/a> is something that I started this year to be the most inspiring thing for these kids. Not only is it a water polo tournament with teams from around the world, but in the morning they\u2019ll get presentations for LA 2024<\/a>, they\u2019ll see the Olympic torch from 1984, there will be nutritionists. In the afternoon there\u2019s going to be coach talks for Q&A and then it will go on to live music in a carnival environment.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to bring back the 2-point rule, to experiment with this at these different games and clinics that I do.<\/p>\n

I want these kids to be in awe. An opening ceremony on the water in Long Beach. I want these kids to leave being inspired because they took pictures with the 10 Olympians who were there. Eventually [I want to] grow this into all aquatics sports because there\u2019s something that\u2019s lacking in all of them. Next year I\u2019d like to incorporate swimming and eventually kite surfing and others sports.<\/p>\n

Participants could come in a swimmers and come out water polo players?!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Absolutely. Between a lot of sports there\u2019s this [attitude]: \u201cOnly swim.\u201d \u201cOnly water polo.\u201d \u201cOnly basketball.\u201d It\u2019s so important to interact with people from around the world, especially at a young age. To see what other sports have to offer, to play, to have fun but at the same time to be inspired and to work.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s not your sport; maybe that other sport inspired you to be who you are. We\u2019d like to house everyone in an Olympic-type village\u2014these kind of things that don\u2019t really exist for kids at a young age who weren\u2019t chosen as the 10 or 15 best in their country.<\/p>\n

I was mentored through my father and other coaches and I really want to give these kids these same opportunities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll work with Cardinal Education, tutoring experts in Palo Alto. I want to offer kids the same mentoring opportunities I had.<\/p>\n

Then after that\u2014which I\u2019m sure you spoke with Dragan [Jovanovic]<\/a> about\u2014is a professional league. At the Aquatic Games a Mexican and a Canadian team are signed up.<\/p>\n

We’re the hardest sport in the world for a reason. You can\u2019t just jump in and let your talent take over. You have to work. That\u2019s what\u2019s great about it, because the people who end up succeeding at this sport, they\u2019re the ones who go on to be successful in everything they do. They know how to work hard and they know what teamwork and dedication means. That\u2019s why I\u2019m a water polo player for life and I love it.<\/p>\n

\"azevedo-olympics-05-17\"

Photo Courtesy: Adam Pretty<\/p><\/div>\n

As you look back on your career, what has stood out between the choices you\u2019ve made and the challenges you\u2019ve faced?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

People ask me all the time\u2014because I was named seventh-best athlete in the world a decade ago and they say I\u2019m the best in the sport in U.S. history\u2014imagine if that was another sport like basketball. What if you were Kobe? What if you were Jordan?<\/p>\n

I always say the same thing: \u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d \u00a0I will never ever regret any decision I\u2019ve made. I made them because I love this sport.<\/p>\n

I consider myself so much luckier than most people. I don’t just love water polo; it\u2019s in my blood!<\/p>\n

How many people can say that for the last 20 years they\u2019ve made a living doing their favorite thing in the entire world.<\/p>\n

Now as I look back on this I realize: \u201cI can\u2019t play anymore. What\u2019s gonna happen now?\u201d And that\u2019s where you start thinking: \u201cDo I take that job?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Absolutely not. If you\u2019re not that passionate in it, then yes, go to your job right after college. The truth is if you\u2019re hiring, you\u2019re going to want someone who\u2019s that dedicated that much time to go to one Olympics. Imagine someone who went to 2, 3 and so forth! That means that person knows what it takes to succeed in the business world.<\/p>\n

Are the days of Tony Azevado playing water polo truly ended?!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My last game will be against Croatia at Stanford on June 11th. I will go out at the college where I won my Cutino Awards and NCAA championships and thank the fans as I walk away from playing forever. No master, no leagues, no nothing. That will be the last time I ever play the sport of water polo not for fun.<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s women\u2019s team is the #2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament. How do you like the Cardinal\u2019s chances against top seed UCLA?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

That\u2019s tough. Brandon [Brooks<\/a>, UCLA coach]\u2014who was our goalie for two Olympic games [2004, 2008]. I watched the UCLA girls play a couple of weeks ago and they are tough. Rachel Fattal<\/strong> is a stud and so is [Maddie Musselman<\/strong>]. I really love how competitive the UCLA girls are.<\/p>\n

I think Stanford\u2019s tough, USC\u2019s tough; it\u2019s gonna be a great NCAA championship.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a fan of Maggie and the way she plays. I\u2019m going to throw all the pressure on her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor. By many measures the greatest player in American water polo history, last summer at the Rio Olympics Tony Azevedo joined an exclusive club \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":254445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[1190,60381,479,533,60192,7457,61272,5857,3016,61381,3671],"class_list":["post-254440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-polo","tag-dante-dettamanti","tag-dragan-jovanovic","tag-john-vargas","tag-manuel-estiarte","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-monte-nitzkowski","tag-peter-j-cutino-award","tag-ratko-rudic","tag-ricardo-azevedo","tag-stanford-mens-water-polo","tag-tony-azevedo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCatching Up With Water Polo Olympian Tony Azevedo - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Swimming World spoke with Azevedo about his playing career, his plans for the future, what it means to be Tony Azevedo, and his thoughts about the upcoming NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catching Up With Water Polo Olympian Tony Azevedo\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Swimming World spoke with Azevedo about his playing career, his plans for the future, what it means to be Tony Azevedo, and his thoughts about the upcoming NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-05T19:25:11+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-10T18:44:10+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tony-azevedo-apr-17.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"998\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\"},\"headline\":\"Catching Up With Water Polo Olympian Tony Azevedo\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-05T19:25:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-10T18:44:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/\"},\"wordCount\":2306,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/catching-up-with-water-polo-olympian-tony-azevedo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tony-azevedo-apr-17.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Dante Dettamanti\",\"Dragan Jovanovic\",\"John Vargas\",\"Manuel Estiarte\",\"Michael Randazzo\",\"Monte Nitzkowski\",\"Peter J. 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