POOLSIDE MANNER: Vargas earned Coach of the Year honors. Gonzalesphoto.com

The final seconds in the pool were reminiscent of last year’s NCAA championship game, when the second-ranked Cardinal men’s water polo team lost to top-ranked USC 9-7 in overtime play. Except that this year’s 10-9 overtime loss to UCLA was even more difficult to accept.

“We had a lot of people returning, and the general feeling was that we had a lot of work to do because we didn’t want that to happen again,” says head coach John Vargas. “But, hey—UCLA had a great game.”

Vargas, who was named Coach of the Year by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, has taken his teams to the NCAA tournament all three years he’s coached on the Farm. It didn’t hurt to have a star player: Tony Azevedo, two-time Olympian and four-time All-American. Or, as Vargas puts it, “arguably the best water polo player ever in college.”

Azevedo helped Stanford reach four NCAA title games and claim two national championships. He topped the roster in scoring all four years, totaling 332 goals in his college career. Under his leadership, the Cardinal won 91 games and lost 16; this year, the team was 23-5. Azevedo now plays for the Bissolati club team in Italy; his contract may be worth $270,000 with housing and incentives.

“You cannot replace him,” Vargas says. “But what he brought to the team—his ability, as well as a winning attitude and a work ethic—will carry over for years.”

Without Azevedo, Vargas says, the “dynamics of the team and our approach to the game change tremendously.” In the off-season, team members will work to develop skills so that “we can get more players involved.” Two promising recruits whose names are not yet public will add depth to the roster.

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