Brenda Villa is an American accomplished 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.
Nicolle Katherine Payne is an American water polo player. The goalkeeper was a member of the US teams that won the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Heather Moody is an American water polo player, who won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She was team captain of the US Women's National Team that captured the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the only member of the team not from California. Her position is center forward.
Peter J. Cutino was an American swimming and water polo coach and educator for over 40 years and the author of several books and numerous articles on coaching aquatic sports. In his 26 years as head coach at the University of California, Berkeley, his Cal teams won eight NCAA titles. He was the all-time winning coach in U.S. water polo history. His efforts for water sports training, development of facilities for competition and philanthropic support of athletes earned him national recognition. In 1999, the Peter J. Cutino Award was established in his honor by the San Francisco Olympic Club, and is presented annually to the top American male and female collegiate water polo players.
Natalie Golda is a former American water polo player and currently the head coach of the newly formed Fresno State Bulldogs water polo team to begin competition in 2018. Considered one of the greatest women's water polo players of all time, her senior leadership helped guide the 2005 UCLA Bruins to their seventh national championship. In May 2005 Golda received the Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the best player in women's collegiate water polo. She was also a member of the US Water Polo Team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2015, she was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
The history of water polo as a team sport began in mid 19th-century England and Scotland, where water sports were a feature of county fairs and festivals.
Craig Martin Wilson is an American former water polo player who was a member of the United States men's national water polo team and two-time Olympic silver medalist. He is considered the best goalkeeper in the sport's history.
The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as UC Santa Barbara or UCSB, the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports with the majority competing in the Big West Conference. UCSB currently fields varsity teams in 10 men's sports and 9 women's sports.
Gregory Vaitl Boyer is a former American water polo player who was a member of the United States men's national water polo team and won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
James Wallace O'Connor was an American competition swimmer and water polo player for Stanford University who played internationally for the United States at four Olympiads: at the 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936. He won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics for swimming in the world record setting U.S. 4x200 freestyle relay, and took home a bronze medal for Water Polo in both the 1924 and 1932 Olympics. He is rated by many sports historians as the greatest American Water Polo player of all time.
Peter Gregory Asch "Pasch" is a retired American water polo player from the United States, who won the bronze medal with the Men's National Team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. He received a gold medal in 1971 and a silver medal in 1975 with the American Water Polo Team in the PanAm Games, and was rated as one of the best players in the World from 1971 to 1976. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1971 where he competed in Water Polo, and later worked in banking.
Richard William Roth is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.
Brian Alexander is a former American water polo player who was a member of the United States men's national water polo team.
Robert Earl Hughes was an American water polo player and breaststroke swimmer for the University of Southern California who competed in both the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics.
James Alan Gaughran was an American water polo player, and competitive swimmer for Stanford University, who became a Hall of Fame Head Swimming and Water Polo Coach for Stanford from 1960–79. A former Olympian, Gaughran competed in Water Polo for the U.S. in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Wallace "Wally" Perry Wolf Jr. was an American attorney, bank director, competition swimmer, water polo player, and Olympic champion. He competed in the 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960 Summer Olympics.
Melissa Jon Seidemann is an American water polo player. She won the National Championship with Stanford University in 2011. She also won the gold medal with the United States national team in the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Ross Sinclair is a former professional American water polo player and current water polo head coach.
Margaret "Maggie" Hogan is an American canoe sprinter and former collegiate swimmer who is a member of the U.S. National Canoe and Kayak Team. She was the first American to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for canoe sprinting.
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.
