UCLA's Wright Talks About NCAA Water Polo Win, Sport's Future

After dethroning reining six-time champion USC early last month in the 2014 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship in San Diego, Adam Wright, head coach of the UCLA men’s team, did what for him is second nature: giving back to the sport that has given so much to him. Flying east for a two-day youth clinic on December 20 and 21, Wright jumped into Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool to work directly with young athletes ages 9 to 19.

That Wright, arguably the most successful player in American water polo history, would get back in the water to for his sport’s benefit is nothing new. Winner of two NCAA men’s water polo championships (1999, 2000) as a UCLA player and now one as the Bruins’ coach, Wright was a member of the United States team that captured a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the highest finish by the Americans since a silver finish at the 1988 Seoul games.

At poolside in Princeton, Wright spoke at length with the Collegiate Water Polo Association about his stellar career, UCLA’s 9-8 NCAA championship win on December 7—the Bruins’ ninth—and the future of the sport.

Discussing his greatest accomplishments, Wright cited his first big triumph: capturing the Division I California Interscholastic Federation water polo championship in 1994 while a sophomore at Long Beach’s Woodrow Wilson Classical High School.

In describing the Bruins’ NCAA win this season over their cross-town rivals, Wright said, “There was nothing more gratifying. To watch a group that had to be resilient over the years—our senior class played in three NCAA finals—for me that was the biggest joy out of anything that I’ve been a part of in my water polo career.”

What made the victory even sweeter was that UCLA dropped a heartbreaking 11-10 decision to USC in the 2012 NCAA final. The Trojans’ Kostas Genidounias scored the winning goal in the waning seconds of the match, giving his team a fifth-straight championship as well as an undefeated season.

“It was a really tough thing to swallow losing the last seconds of the [2012] game,” Wright said. “Do I think that made us more prepared for 2014? Absolutely. If you look at our game this year we’re up 7-4 going into the fourth period and all the sudden it’s 7 – 7. If you’re not a better team and if you’re not more mentally focused it can go right back to where it was in 2012. Learning from ’12 was crucial for us to be successful in 2014.”

That two California teams were competing for the NCAA men’s championship is no surprise: in 45 years of competition only teams from the Golden State have qualified for the final. After expanding the tournament last year to six teams with play-in games to determine the Final Four’s third and fourth seeds, Wright thinks that more change is needed to ensure representation by schools outside of California.

“I think everybody can agree: the tournament should be expanded again. You go back to the early ‘90s when it was an eight-team tournament. That was great and it would be unbelievable if we could get back there. The 2013 expansion was a small step in the right direction but it came at a cost. We don’t want to forget about programs back east because they’re crucial to the sport, not only at the university level but for the sport in general.”

The Bruin coach believes that the east is where water polo has an opportunity to grow. “Man, if we can get the East Coast going that would be huge for our national impact. It’s a challenge but it would be a worthwhile investment.”

Wherever water polo is being played, Wright is sure to be involved.

“It’s tough because as a full time coach you don’t have a lot of time,” Wright said about his efforts to grow the sport, “but at the same time if you’re truly invested in water polo you have a responsibility to give back what the sport gave you.”

PHOTO CAPTION: UCLA’s head coach Adam Wright gets tossed in pool at the end of the match.
PHOTO CREDIT: Charlie Neuman / UT San Diego