Newport Beach Water Polo Attackers on 13 Man Rio-Bound US Olympic Team

Newport Beach, CA--The 13-player U.S. Olympic men's water polo team announced Thursday includes five players from Orange County — attacker Luca Cupido and center John Mann, both of Newport Beach, goalkeeper McQuin Baron of North Tustin, attacker Bret Bonanni of Huntington Beach, and attacker Josh Samuels of Villa Park.

Cupido is a graduate of Newport Harbor High School, 2014. He attends the University of California, Berkeley. His accomplishments in the pool include: 2016 FINA World League Super Final, silver; 2015 Pan American Games, gold; 2015 FINA World League Super Final, 4th; 2014 FINA World Cup, 4th.

Mann, a graduate of Corona Del Mar High School and the University of California, Berkeley, he has competed for a France-based club, C.N. Marseille, since 2014. Mann aided the University of California, Berkeley to the 2006 NCAA title and was selected 2006 Peter J. Cutino Award winner. His Olympic experience includes competing on Team USA in 2012's London Olympic games.

Bonanni, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, and recent Stanford graduate. Born in Newport Beach, he resides in Huntington Beach. His career highlights include 2016 FINA World League Super Final, silver; 2015 Pan American Games, gold.

Attacker Tony Azevedo of Long Beach, the first five-time Olympian in U.S. water polo history. 34-year-old Azevedo has been a member of each U.S. men's Olympic water polo team since 2000, including 2008, when the U.S. won a silver medal, and was the leading scorer for the U.S. in the 2004 and 2008.

The other Los Angeles County residents on the team are 38-year-old goalkeeper Merrill Moses of Palos Verdes, a three-time Olympian who was also a member of the silver medal-winning 2008 team and is an assistant coach at his college alma mater, Pepperdine, and 18-year-old center Ben Hallock from Studio City, who graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School last month.

The U.S. is sixth in rankings compiled by FINA, the international governing body for aquatics. It has finished second in the FINA World League Super Final last month.

"We're the only team in the world that's trained nonstop for eight months," said Azevedo, the team captain. "We've gotten better every month.

"I think we're going to be a team that everyone's afraid of. In Rio, we're going to be one of the best teams in the world."

— City News Service, photo courtesy of Jonathan Moore/USA Water Polo/Team USA