Tony Azevedo

Last updated
Tony Azevedo
Personal information
NationalityAmerican/Brasilian
BornNovember 21, 1981 (1981-11-21) (age 42)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [1]
Medal record
Men's water polo
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Beijing Team
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1999 Winnipeg Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2003 Santo Domingo Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Guadalajara Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Toronto Team
FINA World League
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Huizhou Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2003 New York Team

Anthony Lawrence Azevedo (born November 21, 1981) is a Brazilian-born American [2] [3] water polo player. He is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and a five-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016). [4] Azevedo ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list in Olympic history, with 61 goals. [1] Nicknamed "The Savior" at one point, he is considered to be one of the best American water polo players in recent memory. He was the former captain of the U.S. National Men's Water Polo Team. He is also a graduate of Stanford University.

Contents

Early life

Tony Azevedo was born in Rio de Janeiro, but his family moved to California when he was 1 month old. His mother is American, and his father is the Brazilian Ricardo Azevedo, a former Olympic water polo player. When he was four, Azevedo suffered a fall that severed his trachea and esophagus. Although his heart stopped beating on the operating table for a period of four minutes before doctors were able to revive him, he made a complete recovery and went on to excel in water polo, a strenuous sport.

He is 1.85 m (6 ft) and weighs 91 kg (200 lbs).

During his four years at Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California, his team won four California Interscholastic Federation championships and he was named MVP all four years.

College career

Azevedo led Stanford's men's water polo team to two NCAA championships (in 2001 and 2002), and he represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. At the 2004 Olympics, Azevedo was second on the tournament's goals scored list with 15. He set a school freshman scoring record (68 goals), a single-season school record as a sophomore (95, or 3.4 goals a game) and, scored a school record 332 career goals in four years at Stanford. For each of his four years in college, Azevedo was honored as the most outstanding male player of the year with the Peter J. Cutino Award – water polo's version of the Heisman Trophy. While at Stanford, he was a member of the Alpha Pi chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order.

Professional career

In 2004 after graduating from Stanford University with a degree in International Relations, Azevedo signed a professional water polo contract with Bissolati Cremona (Italy) placing him among the top 10 paid players in the sport. Playing with Team Bissolati for his third season in 2006, he scored 63 goals with a 2.62 average per game. Azevedo rejoined the rest of the US men's national team at the 2007 Melbourne World Championships. [5] Azevedo scored 5 goals of an 8–4 win by the US National Team over host country China in the opening games of the 2008 Summer Olympics. [6] In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, defeated by Hungary.

Azevedo played for VK Jug from Dubrovnik for two seasons from 2008 until 2010. Since summer 2010 he's been playing for VK Primorac from Kotor.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Azevedo was named the captain of the United States men's national water polo team. Near the end of the contest against Romania on July 31, 2012, he was called for a misconduct foul and was given a red card. The USA team defeated Romania 10–8. [7]

In 2010s he played for Croatian water polo squad Jug from Dubrovnik.

Podcast

In 2020, he began co-hosting The Tony Azevedo Podcast with El Segundo, California stand-up comic Dave Williamson. [8] [9]

Personal life

The Azevedo family is a water polo dynasty. His father, Ricardo Azevedo, played on the Brazilian national water polo team and coached his son throughout his age group and high school career. Azevedo senior was Head Water Polo Coach both of the U.S. National Team and Long Beach State University. Tony's sister Cassie is a two-time All-American water polo player at Long Beach State. Cassie also plays professionally in Italy after adjusting to a congenital health condition that temporarily sidetracked her water polo career. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Villa</span> American water polo player

Brenda Villa is an accomplished American water polo player. She is the most decorated athlete in the world of women’s water polo. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-2009 by the FINA Aquatics World Magazine. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics; and one of two female athletes who won four Olympic medals in water polo. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 31 goals. In 2018, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.

Vladimir Vujasinović is a Serbian professional water polo head coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of VK Novi Beograd.

Veljko Uskoković is a retired Montenegrin water polo player. His club achievements are: European Champion 2000, 4 times Yugoslav Champion 4 times Yugoslav Cup Winner. Member of Yugoslav national water polo team from 1991 to 2002. Team captain from 1996 to 2001. Uskoković played more than 300 games, and scored over 400 goals.

Kelly Kristen Rulon is an American water polo player. She won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the water polo competition. She is also a bronze medalist from the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her position is driver.

Adam Krikorian is an American water polo coach and the head coach of the United States women's national water polo team. He coached the team to gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games, 2016 Olympic Games, and 2020 Olympic Games. He was named the United States Olympic Committee's Coach of the Games for 2016. He won 15 NCAA national championships as player, assistant coach, and head coach at UCLA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Azevedo</span> Brazilian water polo player and coach

Ricardo Azevedo is a Brazilian professional water polo coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Steffens</span> American water polo player

Jessica Marie Steffens is an American water polo player. She was a member of the United States national teams that won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also played at Stanford University.

Adam Wright is an American water polo player and a college water polo head coach. He was a member of the United States men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, defeated by Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Bailey (water polo)</span> American water polo player

Ryan Bailey is an American water polo player and Olympic silver medallist. He competed in the Summer Olympic games between 2000 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duško Pijetlović</span> Serbian water polo player

Duško Pijetlović is a Serbian water polo center forward for VK Novi Beograd. He was a member of the Serbia men's national water polo teams that won Olympic gold medals in 2016 and 2020, and bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He held the world title in 2009 and 2015 and the European title in 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Pijetlović won three consecutive Euroleague titles with three teams: in 2011 with Partizan in 2012 with Pro Recco and in 2013 with Crvena Zvezda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Živko Gocić</span> Serbian water polo player

Živko Gocić is a former Serbian water polo player. He was a member of the Serbian teams that won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and a gold medal in 2016. He also held the world title in 2009 and 2015 and the European title in 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014 and 2016. In December 2013 he became captain of the national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrija Prlainović</span> Serbian water polo player

Andrija Prlainović is a Serbian professional water polo player widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. He was a member of the Serbia men's national water polo teams that won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and gold medals in 2016 and 2020. He also held the world title in 2009 and 2015 and the European title in 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. In 2011, he won the LEN Euroleague with VK Partizan and in 2013 with Red Star Belgrade, where he was one of the best scorers.

Aleksandar Ivović, is a Montenegrin professional water polo player. He started his career at PVK Jadran, which is his first senior team to compete for. He was a member of the Montenegro men's national water polo team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The team reached the semifinals, where they were defeated by Hungary and then lost to Serbia in the bronze medal match. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was again a member of Montenegro's team, where they lost to Croatia in the semi-final, and then lost to Serbia again in the bronze medal match, this time 11–12. He is considered one of the best defenders of all time and by many the top in his position in the world as he can transform the entire defense of his team.

Charles Raymond "Chick" McIlroy is an American water polo player who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics and in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maro Joković</span> Croatian water polo player

Maro Joković is a Croatian water polo player. He is left-handed and plays in the right wing position. He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a gold medal in 2012 and a silver in 2016. He held the world title in 2007 and the European title in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratko Rudić</span> Croatian water polo player and coach

Ratko Rudić is a retired Croatian water polo coach and a former water polo player. As of 2015, he has won 38 medals as a coach at major events, making him the most successful water polo coach in history, and second most successful team sport coach of all time. He won four gold medals, of which three consecutive, with three different national teams at the Summer Olympics, as well as three gold medals with three national teams at the World Championships, among many others. In 2007 was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, described as "one of the best, if not the best, water polo coach to walk the deck of the pool".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikša Dobud</span> Croatian water polo player

Nikša Dobud is a Croatian water polo player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the Croatia men's national water polo team in the men's event. He is 6'7" (200 cm) tall and weighs 276 lbs (125 kg).

Margaret Ann Steffens is an American professional water polo player. She won the gold medal with the United States at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Steffens set a new Olympic record for the most goals scored by an individual player in women's water polo at the Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament</span>

The men's tournament of Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began on 6 August and ended on 20 August 2016. Games were held at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre and the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

Joshua Martin Kugler Samuels is a water polo player from the United States. He played for the United States men's national water polo team that won a gold medal in water polo at the 2015 Pan American Games, and competed for the team in the 2016 Summer Olympics, which finished in tenth place.

References

  1. 1 2 "Tony Azevedo". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "sportv.com | Vìdeos de futebol e outros esportes no canal".
  3. ↑ Tony Azevedo, TeamUSA.org, 2012
  4. ↑ "Tony Azevedo". Archived from the original on 2015-05-09.
  5. ↑ USA Waterpolo: US National Team Athletes make impact on Italian League Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 2007-01-21)
  6. ↑ USA Waterpolo: Stellar Defense and Azevedo's Five Goals Lead Team USA To 8-4 Defeat Of China Archived 2008-08-11 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 2008-08-10)
  7. ↑ USA Men Top Romania 10-8 For Second Straight Win At 2012 Olympic Games [ permanent dead link ], USAWaterPolo.org, July 31, 2012
  8. ↑ "Tony Azevedo Podcast". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  9. ↑ Hixon, Michael (May 13, 2020). "For coastal comics, performing in front of a computer just isn't the same". The Beach Reporter . Hermosa Beach, California . Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  10. ↑ "Tony Azevedo Bio NBC Olympics".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.