Peter Asch enters his fourth full season as the head coach of the California women's water polo program where he has led the Golden Bears to an impressive 79-25 (.760) record during his tenure, including a second-place national finish in 1998 and fourth-place finishes in 1999 and 2000. Asch also helped lead Cal to its first ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in '99 and was named MPSF Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading the Bears to a 28-7 mark. One of the greatest players in United States water polo history and a member of the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame, Asch was named head coach of Cal's women's water polo team in August of 1998 and is also the Bears head men's water polo coach. Asch actually served as Cal's interim head coach for the women's program during the collegiate national tournament in April of 1998. During the 1998 season, he helped the Bears finish second nationally, including an upset of second-ranked Stanford in the national semifinals. Asch has a long history of excellence as he earned All-America honors in water polo for the Bears three straight years from 1967-69. He stood out on the 1969 Cal team that finished second in the first ever NCAA men's water polo championship. Asch was the Bears team captain in 1968 and '69 and a member of the 1972 USA Olympic team and the 1971 and '75 Pan American Games teams. He helped the United States win a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics and a Pan Am Games gold medal in '71. A part of the bronze medal U.S. team at the 1973 World Championship, Asch was the U.S. Water Polo Player of the Year and the sport's Sullivan Award Nominee in 1975. He is a 1984 inductee in the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame, a 1987 inductee in the International Water Polo Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee in the California Athletic Hall of Fame. Following a distinguished college and amateur career, Asch was equally successful in the business world. He rose to the position of senior vice president of Bank of America before he retired after 22 years in the banking industry. Asch returned to the sport of water polo in 1994, coaching age-group girls' teams. He served as the head coach at Miramonte High School girls' teams from 1995 through '97, helping his squads capture a pair of North Coast Section titles. Asch, 54, lives in Orinda with his wife, Esther, and daughter, Katherine (16).

Peter Asch Position: Head Coach