The World’s Greatest USA Women Top Canada To Win Gold In Rome VOLUME 24, NUMBER 3, FALL 2009 2009 Academic All-Americans Inside What’s Inside... VOL. 24, NUM. 3, Fall 2009 USA WATER POLO NATIOnaL OFFICE The World’sUSA Women Greatest Top Canada To Win Gold In Rome ON THE COVER . 2124 Main Street, Suite 240 Huntington Beach, CA 92648 USA Women Win Gold (714) 500-5445 business In Rome Inside Water. 2 (714) 500-5449 membership Cover photos courtesy (714) 960-2431 fax of photo courtesy US Presswire/ Alberto Lingria. Water Polo Times . 4 USA WATER POLO NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 11360 Valley Forge Ave. Los Alamitos, CA 90720 5 Meters. 22 (562) 799-8506 business (562) 799-8508 fax 2009 Academic All-Americans Inside WEB SITE In the Area. 26 www.usawaterpolo.org CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Christopher Ramsey EXECUTIVE AssISTanT TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Also In This Issue... Chelsea Johnson DIRECTOR OF OLYMPIC DEVELOpmENT Guy Baker Junior World DIRECTOR OF SPORT DEVELOpmENT Championships . 6 Scott Tanner REGIOnaL DIRECTOR OF SPORT DEVELOpmENt – EasT Liz Grimes National Senior Games . 16 CONTROLLER Ulises Sam Academic EVENTS ManagER Kate Strand All-Americans . 18 MEDIA RELATIOns ManagER Greg Mescall Hot Shots . 20 NATIOnaL TEams OPERATIONS ManagER Heather Petri and Brenda Villa Marcy Crouch win their third world title MEMBERSHIP SERVICES ManagER Speedo Top 40 & Drew Willems Speedo Cup Preview . .28 OLYMPIC DEVELOpmENT COORDInaTOR World Randi Burch VIDEO COORDInaTOR Jeanine Baca Championships Look Ahead... NATIOnaL TEams COORDInaTOR Ashley Papenbrock pg8 Next Issue FInanCE COORDInaTOR >Holiday Cup recap Fay Hu RECEPTIONIST Sarah Stern BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Graff (Chairman), Jeremy Laster, Ed Reynolds, William Smith, Ellen Estes Lee, Robert Sternfels EDITOR Greg Mescall CONTRIbuTORS Darcy Couch, Chris Oeding, Jason Lynch, Jim Cullingham, Mary Pat Robinson, >Speedo Cup results Joan Gould, Ed Haas, Summit Photography, Sally Olds, Jeff Shewmon, Tracy Birdsell, Kevin Burke, Fotos FPN, Fotos Hugo Rocha, Michael Duffy, Gwen Golub, Michael Machnik, George Stransky, Mike Miller, Stan Schwimer, Karina Cordisco, Stuart Sheldon, Jordan Eickman PRINTING Publication Printers 2001 S. Platte River Dr., Denver, CO 80223 | 303-936-0303 CREATIVE Adrenalin, Inc. 54 West 11th Ave., Denver, CO 80204 pg10 303-454-8888 | goadrenalin.com Junior USA Water Polo Skip Shot Magazine (ISSN# 15507580) is published four times per year by United States Water Polo, Inc., located at 2124 Main Street, Suite 210, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Periodicals postage is paid at Olympics Huntington Beach, CA 92648 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Skip Shot Magazine, Stanford welcomes the world’s largest United States Water Polo, Inc., 2124 Main Street, Suite 210, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 water polo tournament usawaterpolo.org 1 letter from the CEO, Christopher Ramsey USA WATER POLO INSIDE WATER A Water Polo Star Who Helped Us Bridge the Gap Donald Fisher, a true giant in the world of water polo, has Is Power Program (KIPP) of charter schools, to Teach for America, and to passed away. Fisher played water polo at Lowell High School USA Water Polo. His generosity touched hundreds of thousands of lives. and UC Berkeley. He was a terrific athlete who almost made the I spoke with Fisher often the last couple of years about the challenges we Olympic team and never failed to appreciate the value of com- faced competing internationally. He came to the Olympic games in Beijing petition in business and in sport. Indeed, he was founder of the and cheered us on, delighted especially by the Cinderella run to a silver Gap clothing empire, and namesake of the USAWP “Fisher Cup.” medal by our men’s team. It was truly wonderful how much he cared about He was an American success story—a rare man who saw oppor- our work. tunity in adversity. Early one Saturday a few months ago I was having breakfast at a restau- “I didn’t plan to go into the clothing business,” Don said in an article in rant when my cell phone rang. I didn’t immediately recognize the number Cal’s alumni magazine. “I was just fortunate to have a bit of bad luck.”. but stepped outside to answer the call. It was Don. He told me he’d just finished reviewing the work that McKinsey & Company had done for us With no retail experience, he realized a chance when he and his wife on growing our sport. Doris tried to exchange a pair of ill-fitting Levi’s jeans and couldn’t find a store in the city that carried all sizes, according to the San Francisco “That’s all fine,” he said, “but it doesn’t have to be that complicated. I go Chronicle. So they bought a shop in San Francisco that sold blue jeans to my granddaughter’s swim meets all the time. Just set up a card table and records, invested $63,000, and called it the Gap—Doris’ shorthand for with a water polo sign-up sheet outside the chain link fence, and you’ll “generation gap.” He used college athletes as his first sales force, and the have more young players than you know what to do with!” Gap grew into a worldwide chain. Don loved water polo. He was excited about our prospects, about instill- In a 2002 memoir, Fisher described being caught cheating on an ing Olympic ideals in all of our coaches and players, and about our hopes industrial-relations exam by Clark Kerr, then a Cal professor and later the for a state-of-the-art national aquatic stadium. He told me that water polo university president. Kerr gave him an F but didn’t expel him, which Fisher had given him a great deal in his life—but what an inspirational example called an “act of mercy” for which he was forever grateful. he gave to us. C.R. He was a generous man. He amassed an astonishing collection of mod- ern art and gave it to the San Francisco Museum of Art. He gave money to Huntington Beach the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, to Cal and Princeton, to the Knowledge LETTERS TO THE EDITOR If you have a comment or question concerning Skip Shot magazine, send in a letter to the editor. You can write to Skip Shot Magazine: c/o USA Water Polo, 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 or send an email to: [email protected] 2009 CALENDAR OF EVENTS Speedo Top 40 PACE Coaches Conference October 23-25, 2009 December 11-13, 2009 Los Alamitos, CA Newport Beach, CA Speedo Cup 7th Annual USA Water November 14-16, 2009 Polo Golf Tournament Ann Arbor, MI Championships Holiday Cup December 18, 2009 Mission Viejo, CA December 9 – 13, 2009 Newport Beach, CA 2 News Briefs Foster is a veteran of water polo and the aquatics community, having The new FINA Technical Water Polo Committee includes Chairman served as president of USA Water Polo from 1990 to 1996 and 2000 to 2006 Gianni Lonzi (ITA), Vice Chairman Richard Foster (USA), Honorary as well as on the board of the United States Olympic Committee from 1992 Secretary John Whitehouse (AUS), Members Boukezouha Badreddine USA WATER POLO WATER POLO TIMES to 1996. The Southern California native has also held a variety of positions (ALG), Jorge Pagura (BRA), Bill Shaw (CAN), Khosrow Amini (IRI), within the Long Beach Sports Council and the Los Angeles Sports Council, Andrey Kryukov (KAZ), Niculae Firoiu (GER), Manuel Ibern (ESP), “Our teams are ranked at the top of the sport, and we need a prod- chaired the local organizing committee for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Swim Evgeny Sharanov (RUS), Haluk Toygarli (TUR), G.O. Martin (HUN), uct that we can depend on to keep them in the game and playing at Trials, and currently serves as president of United States Aquatic Sports. Aleksander Sostar (SRB), Mohie Wahid Farid (EGY), and Bureau Liaison USA Water Polo and KT Tape Dimitris Diathesopoulos (GRE). their peak,” said Christopher Ramsey, Chief Executive Officer, USA Foster is a graduate of Long Beach State University, with advanced Enter Partnership Through Water Polo. “After extensive testing we found that KT Tape was degrees from the University of Southern California and Loyola Law School. the only kinesiology tape that would stay on in the water and pro- He practices law through his own firm based in Seal Beach, CA. 2012 Olympic Games vide the stability and support our athletes needed. This partnership is a great fit for USA Water Polo because we want all our athletes to have access to the best equipment, whether they play at the local USa Water POlO announCeS Sea air Federal Credit UniOn aS neW Sponsor for FinanCial ServiCeS or national level, and KT Tape is the best kinesiology tape we’ve found.” USA Water Polo and Sea Air Federal Credit Union (FCU) of Seal As part of the agreement, Sea Air Federal Credit Union will be the title Beach, CA, have signed a four-year sponsorship agreement, making sponsor for the 7th Annual USA Water Polo Golf Tournament scheduled for John D. Mackay, President of Lumos, Inc., echoed Ramsey’s support Sea Air FCU the Official Credit Union for all USA Water Polo members December 18th at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club. This year’s keynote speaker for the players: “We are serious about our commitment to keep athletes and athletes. The credit union will match new memberships, up to $25, will be Dwight Stones, the TV commentator and Olympic high jumper. All healthy and help them perform at their very best. Water polo is a great directly to USA Water Polo for every new Credit Union membership proceeds from the event will go to the National Teams programs.