Team USA Head Coach Terry Schroeder begins the tournament with hopes he will get the men’s water polo team back to the medal podium for the first time since 1988, when Schroeder, then a player, led the team to Silver in Seoul, South Korea. “I’m excited, I’m anxious to get started, we have been here in China a long time now and I am just anxious to get started. I think the team is ready and they are excited,” Schroeder said.
Driver and team captain Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA) returns for his third consecutive Olympic Games intent on improving on recent finishes that saw a seventh place in Athens in 2004 and a sixth place finish in Sydney in 2000. The high scoring threat is joined by interior presence and fellow three-time Olympian Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA). Bailey the veteran of the squad at 32 years old will anchor the two-meter attack for Team USA. First-time Olympian Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA) will start in goal for Team USA.
Five other athletes are on board from the 2004 games including Layne Beaubien (Coronado, CA), Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA), Brandon Brooks (Honolulu, HI), Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA), and Adam Wright (Seal Beach, CA) and are also looking to lose the bad taste in their mouth from four years ago. “I am a little anxious, we open against China, the home team and for sure it will be a strong game,” added Beaubien. “The first time for some of us in Athens the focus was on just making the team and while we had that process again this time, now we have the experience of having been to the Olympics, we stuck with it for four years and now we can just think about winning a medal this time,” he concluded.
Team USA enters the Olympics on a high coming off a Silver Medal finish at the 2008 FINA World League Super Final in Genoa, Italy, their highest ever finish in that event. Couple that with a defeat of number-one ranked Croatia on May 31 and in recent months the team has played well above their current ninth place world ranking.
China enters the Olympic Games as somewhat of an unknown in the world of men’s water polo. They have never medaled in an Olympic Games, nor did they crack the top 12 at the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. USA and China have met once this year at the World League Super Final with Team USA claiming a 13-9 victory. The highlight of that game was Azevedo pouring in seven goals while Brooks started in net posting six saves.
“China is big and strong, they have a good center, and they play a little unorthodox. That said they are fast and have good legs, some good shooters, and they are getting better and better,” added Schroeder.
Notes: The two teams met as well at the 2007 World League Super Final with Team USA taking a victory. Head Coach Terry Schroeder said USA took on China during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. In addition he came to Beijing in the late 70s with the Men’s National Team and visited a very different city consisting of mostly bicycles, rickshaws, and pedestrians walking on foot, as opposed to the bustling Beijing of today.
The men’s team walked in the opening ceremony last night. All members from the 2004 team did not participate in the opening ceremonies during those Olympic Games as the team voted against it due to upcoming competition. “Last night for the time I got to walk in the opening ceremonies, it was really important because it made us understand the magnitude of this event. Last time we were kind of sequestered so this was really special,” added Beaubien.
