LONG BEACH, Calif., July 20. USA Water Polo announced its men\u2019s Olympic roster recently at the Charter All Digital Aquatic Centre in Long Beach (Calif.). Driver Wolf Wigo was named to his third consecutive Olympic Team.<\/p>\n
The U.S. roster of 13 will include three players from the squad that finished sixth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the most important parts of our Olympic preparation because we\u2019re down to our 13 and we can now narrow our focus and become more specific with each part of our training,\u201d said U.S. head coach Ratko Rudic, who coached teams to three consecutive gold medals between 1984-1992 and won one as a player with Yugoslavia in 1968.<\/p>\n
Team USA capped off 2003 with a third place finish at the FINA World League Super Finals in New York and a gold medal finish at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic. This year, the U.S. has fared well internationally, taking three out of four games from No. 4 Greece on its home turf and registering a second place finish at a four-team international tournament in Moscow. The U.S. also notched an 11-9 win against World Champion and Olympic favorite Hungary back on July 5.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis now takes the psychological pressure off of the 13 men on the team,\u201d
\nsaid Rudic. \u201cI will expect them to be much more involved than before. These 13 have to live just for this Olympic tournament.\u201d <\/p>\n
Team USA by Position<\/b><\/p>\n
Goalkeepers \u2013
\nBrandon Brooks (Honolulu, HI\/UCLA\/Los Angeles WPC) and Genai
\nKerr (Imperial Beach, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) will comprise one of the
\nmost physically imposing — and effective — goalkeeping tandems in water
\npolo today. At a combined height of 13-feet 3-inches, and a collective arm
\nspan longer than that, Brooks and Kerr definitely cover more cage than most.<\/p>\n
At last year\u2019s World Championships, Brooks drew acclaim as one of the best
\nred-capped players in the game. His 14 stops in a 4-2 loss to Greece at
\nWorlds, combined with his ability to feed the ball deep into the USA
\ncounterattack, helped to make Brooks one of water polo\u2019s biggest summer
\nsurprises in 2003. Kerr, who represented the U.S. on its World Championship and Pan American Games teams last summer, is a rangey, long-armed goalkeeper with good cage sense. Brooks stole onto the scene in 2003 after a break from the National Team program. <\/p>\n
Defenders
\nOne of Team USA\u2019s main areas of improvement in the last four years has been defense. Rudic\u2019s aggressive and punishingly European style has worn well on each of Team USA\u2019s able-bodied defenders, helping to hold teams like Hungary and Italy to a quiet whimper on offense. <\/p>\n
Layne Beaubien (Coronado, CA\/Stanford\/New York AC), a sixth-year National
\nTeamer, is regarded as one of the best in the world at shutting down
\nopponents\u2019 hole play. With one of the team\u2019s best shooting arms, he\u2019s also a strong threat on offense. <\/p>\n
Dan Klatt (Fresno, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) has stepped his game up a notch on defense. His strength and speed have helped him develop into a solid stopper for coach Rudic. The junior member of the defensive staff is Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA\/Pepperdine\/Malibu Water Polo). Smith\u2019s size and natural water polo instincts have the 20-year-old positioned to be a mainstay on the U.S. National Team for years to come.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the list of defenders is the versatile Chris Segesman (Santa
\nBarbara, CA\/Long Beach State\/Los Angeles WPC). Segesman, who possesses good speed for his size, is solid on both sides of the ball and has become a vital part of the U.S. counterattack.<\/p>\n
Center
\nIt\u2019s no secret that much of the game of water polo revolves around the
\ncenter position. Teams with a strong center enjoy more options on offense.
\nTeams with two strong centers, like the U.S., force opponents to keep their focus there for 28 minutes.<\/p>\n
UC Irvine alums Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) and Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) offer opponents a whole list of different and separate headaches to worry about. <\/p>\n
Bailey, a 2000 Olympian, is Team USA\u2019s resident big man at 6\u20195\u201d and 255 lbs. Since Rudic\u2019s arrival in 2001, Bailey\u2019s game has been elevated to a new level. Bailey is a massive presence in the trenches and is one of the
\ntoughest men to guard in water polo. His ability to score with either hand, rom the posts and with his back to the goal have lumped Bailey into the same skill class as international stars such as Spain\u2019s Ivan Perez and
\nRussia\u2019s Revaz Tchomakhidze. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s not quite 250 lbs., but what Powers lacks in body mass, he more than
\nmakes up for in versatility. His ability to score from the depths of two
\nmeters or the distance of seven have had the water polo community raise a
\ncollective brow of curiosity. A volatile shooting arm and strong legs have
\nturned Powers into one of the game\u2019s worst kept secrets. Former Stanford
\nstar Peter Hudnut (Encino, CA\/Stanford\/Los Angeles WPC), a powerful,
\ncreative player at two-meters will serve as Rudic\u2019s Olympic alternate.<\/p>\n
Drivers
\nAt the 2000 Olympics, the U.S. featured one of the tournament\u2019s best one-two punches in Wolf Wigo (New York, NY\/Stanford\/New York AC) and Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA\/Stanford\/Long Beach Shore). Both men have returned to lead Team USA\u2019s perimeter attack, but a talented supporting cast boasts more weapons than ever and is sure to keep opponents guessing. <\/p>\n
Wigo will be the team\u2019s lone three-time Olympian. Having also represented
\nthe U.S. at the 1996 and 2000 Games, Wigo becomes the first player with a
\ntrio of Olympiads under his belt since Chris Duplanty and Mike Evans
\naccomplished the feat in 1996. Wigo is a marked man in international waters. He is unquestionably one of the game\u2019s best outside shooters but is also a gifted distributor of the ball. <\/p>\n
Some of Wigo\u2019s game has rubbed off on USA phenom Tony Azevedo. Azevedo was
\nthe youngest member of the 2000 Olympic team but has since grown into one of water polo\u2019s most feared offensive threats. His marked increase in strength since the Sydney Games have propelled Azevedo into a class of his own on both sides of the ball. He is both a pure scorer and a persistent defender with the ability to alter the complexion of any game.<\/p>\n
Wigo and Azevedo share some pretty good company on the outside with Adam
\nWright (Seal Beach, CA\/UCLA\/New York AC) and Brett Ormsby (El Cajon,
\nCA\/UCLA\/Bruin Water Polo). Wright is a slick and instinctual player with a
\ngreat shot and pinpoint passing ability. Ormsby, one of the team\u2019s youngest players, has enjoyed steady improvement at the international level due in large part to his strong shot and speed on the counterattack. <\/p>\n
Omar Amr (Fullerton, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) was one of the last players cut from the team in 2000, but has come back as one of the most improved players in the pool for Team USA. Stronger, faster and more experienced than four years ago, Amr has become a defensive menace and a ball-winner for the U.S. He is one of the fastest players in the game today and is a key weapon in Team USA\u2019s transition game.<\/p>\n
Bracket Bits
\nThe sixth-ranked U.S. men\u2019s water polo team will have its work cut out when play opens on the men\u2019s Olympic water polo tournament on August 15 in
\nAthens, Greece. Team USA will compete in Group A with top-ranked Hungary,
\nNo. 3 Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia), No. 9 Croatia, No. 10
\nRussia, and unranked but highly competitive Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the toughest Olympic draw I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Rudic. \u201cI\u2019ve never
\neven heard of a group this tough from top to bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hungary, the reigning Olympic champ, captured gold at last year\u2019s World
\nChampionships and went on to duplicate that finish at the FINA World League Super Finals, drawing buzz as the team to beat in Athens. Serbia and Montenegro, who took bronze at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, finished third at last year\u2019s World Championships and fourth at the World League <\/p>\n
Super-Finals<\/p>\n
Not to be discounted are Croatia and Russia. Croatia last medaled at the
\n1996 Olympic Games, taking silver in Atlanta. Russia, the winner of the
\nfirst FINA World League in 2002, has been one of the stronger teams in the
\nworld in recent years, despite its 10th place finish in Barcelona last
\nsummer. Kazakhstan, which was absent from the 2003 World Championships, is
\none of the game\u2019s most physically talented teams and will be tough to
\ncontend with.<\/p>\n
Group B will be extremely competitive as well. No. 2 Italy will be joined by <\/p>\n
host Greece (No. 4), No. 5 Spain, No. 7 Australia, No. 11 Germany and
\nunranked Egypt.<\/p>\n
\n2004 U.S. Men\u2019s Water Polo Olympic Roster<\/b><\/p>\n
Name\tPosition\tHt.\tWt.\tHometown\tEducation\tClub
\nOmar Amr\tDemver -0\t205\tFullerton, CA\tUC Irvine \u201997,
\nHarvard Med \u201906\tNewport Water Polo Foundation
\nTony Azevedo ^\tDriver\t6-1\t195\tLong Beach, CA\tStanford \u201904\tLong
\nBeach Shore
\nRyan Bailey ^\t2M Offense\t6-6\t250\tLong Beach, CA\tUC Irvine \u201999
\n\tJUG Dubrovnik (Croatia)\/NWPF
\nLayne Beaubien\t2M Defense\t6-6\t215\tCoronado, CA\tStanford \u201999
\n\tNew York Athletic Club
\nBrandon Brooks\tGoalkeeper\t6-7\t235\tHonolulu, HI\tUCLA \u201905
\n\tLos Angeles Water Polo
\nPeter Hudnut ~\t2M Offense\t6-5\t235\tEncino, CA\tStanford \u201903
\n\tLos Angeles Water Polo
\nGenai Kerr\tGoalkeeper\t6-8\t210\tImperial Beach, CA\tUC
\nIrvine \u201900\tNewport Water Polo Foundation
\nDan Klatt\t2M Defense\t6-5\t205\tFresno, CA\tUC Irvine \u201901
\n\tNewport Water Polo Foundation
\nBrett Ormsby\tDriver\t6-3\t190\tEl Cajon, CA\tUCLA \u201905
\n\tBruin Water Polo
\nJeff Powers\t2M Offense\t6-7\t230\tSan Luis Obispo, CA\tUC
\nIrvine \u201903\tNewport Water Polo Foundation
\nChris Segesman\t2M Defense\t6-5\t205\tSanta Barbara, CA\tCSU
\nLong Beach \u201902\tLos Angeles Water Polo
\nJesse Smith\t2M Defense\t6-4\t240\tCoronado, CA
\n\tPepperdine \u201905\tNew York Athletic Club
\nWolf Wigo * # ^\tDriver\t6-3\t195\tNew York, NY\tStanford \u201996\tNew
\nYork Athletic Club
\nAdam Wright\tDriver\t6-3\t195\tSeal Beach, CA\tUCLA \u201901\tNew
\nYork Athletic Club<\/p>\n
* Team Captain
\n# 1996 Olympian
\n^ 2000 Olympian
\n~ Olympic Alternate<\/p>\n
Head Coach\tRatko Rudic
\nAssistant Coach\tDan Leyson
\nAssistant Coach\tRicardo Azevedo
\nGoalkeeper Coach\tRich Corso<\/p>\n
Manager\tBarbara Kalbus
\nWeight Trainer\tJoe Bailey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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