June 25, 2012
BERKELEY -
June 25, 2012
BERKELEY -
Former California men's water polo standout John Mann, who helped power the Golden Bears to the 2006 NCAA title, has been selected one of 13 members of the United States Men's Water Polo squad that will compete July 29-August 12 at the 2012 London Olympic Games, it was announced today (June 25) by USA Water Polo.
Mann, the winner of the 2006-07 Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top male collegiate water polo player, is now the 16th Cal men's water polo player selected to the Olympics, and the first since the school had four members on the 2000 USA Olympic squad (Gavin Arroyo, Chris Humbert, Sean Nolan, Chris Oeding). Mann was an alternate for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
One of the top players in school history, Mann was the first Bear to capture the Peter J. Cutino Award named after the former Cal water polo coaching legend, Peter Cutino. As a senior he led the Bears to a 31-4 record and both the NCAA and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation titles. In 2006, Mann was picked first-team All-America for the third year in a row, was first-team NCAA All-Tournament, MPSF Tournament MVP, All-MPSF first team and was Cal's Pac-10 Medalist.
During the 2006 season, Mann was the Bears' leading scorer with 80 goals in 33 matches and was instrumental in Cal's 6-5 win over USC in the MPSF Tournament final, and 7-6 victory over the Trojans in the NCAA title match. He finished his college career with 218 goals.
"This has been a long journey for John and we are all very excited about his selection to the Olympics," said Cal water polo coach Kirk Everist, a member of the 1992 and 1996 USA Olympic Teams who coached Mann at Cal from 2003-06. "John has done a tremendous job securing his place on this Olympic team and is definitely ready for London."
