Irvine, CA - September 12 - The USA
Men's National Team will wield a major presence on the European club scene yet
again this upcoming season. One year after 11 members of the Men's National
Team capped up for some of the top clubs abroad, a variety of countries have
welcomed 16 Team USA athletes for the 2022-23 season. Some athletes have been
competing for their clubs for multiple years while others make the move to a
new club this year. The international water polo landscape features a host of
athletes with experience at the USA Water Polo and NCAA levels; here's a closer
look at current members of the Team USA pipeline.
Twelve members of the men's roster
from the 2022 FINA World Championship are competing abroad, including Ben
Hallock who stays with Pro Recco in Italy for a third-straight season after
back-to-back Champions League titles and Max Irving who also stays in Italy
with Telimar. Ben Stevenson moves from Olympic Nice in France to CN Posillipo
in Italy where he will join returning lefty Tyler Abramson.
Top goal scorer at the 2022 FINA
World Championship Alex Bowen makes the move from Partizan in Serbia to CN
Noisy Le Sec. Marko Vavic also departs Partizan after one season for Barcelona.
Hannes Daube joins Marseilles in France while Drew Holland will move within
Greece to man the cage for Peristeri after spending last season with Chios. Two
others will cap up in Greece with Vouliagmeni, including Dylan Woodhead and
Matt Farmer, who moves over from Peristeri. Thomas Dunstan rounds out the World
Championship roster returnees as he will head to France to play for
Aix-en-Provence.
Other National Team athletes are also
back in Europe. Tokyo Olympians Johnny Hooper and Luca Cupido will join the
fray overseas with Hooper teaming up with Irving in Italy at Telimar and Cupido
joining Vavic in Spain at Barcelona. Kacper Langiewicz continues to be a
mainstay in Hungary returning for another season with Kaposvary. A year ago,
Jack Turner patrolled the cage for CN Mataro and this year he will stay in
Spain to join Sant Andreu. Mason McQuet, a newcomer to the Senior National Team
training roster, will also travel to Spain to play for Mediterrani.
"The positive impact of having
our athletes play in Europe is noticed every time our USA team meets for
practice or competition. It's great to see so many guys go abroad this season
playing for some of the top clubs in the game. We remain confident this
approach will bring good results in the future and I'm excited to see what our
guys do this year," said Dejan Udovicic, USA Men's National Team Head
Coach.
Stay up to date with all the action
in Europe by visiting USAWaterPolo.org where a weekly club round-up sharing
scores and highlights will be posted every Monday afternoon when teams are in
competition.
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