Men's Water Polo Preview
After qualifying at the 2019 Pan American Games, the U.S. Men’s National Water Polo Team will likely bring one of the youngest teams in the world to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Coming off a disappointing finish at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, head coach Dejan Udovicic returns, along with team captain Jesse Smith, who is preparing for his USA Water Polo record-tying fifth Olympic Games.
After Smith, no athlete on the U.S. team has taken part in more than one Olympic Games, but team leaders have emerged in Alex Bowen, Alex Obert and Luca Cupido, all key members of Team USA since 2013. Rising stars Hannes Daube, Alex Wolf, Ben Hallock and Marko Vavic represent the best of the college game in the U.S. and are the future of Team USA. Creative attackers like Johnny Hooper and Max Irving, alongside two-way threats like Chancellor Ramirez, provide multiple options on both ends of the pool.
This group won’t be a favorite for a medal at the Tokyo Games, but much like their silver medalist Team USA predecessors in 2008, they’ll have an opportunity to upend the water polo power structure controlled by the likes of Serbia and Croatia. A mobile, fast-attacking group, the U.S. men’s team will be one of the fittest in the competition under the expert tutelage of Udovicic.
Updated on July 20, 2020. For more information, contact the sport press officer here.
