The fiery kid from Mountain View was just one of a dozen new recruits brought in to replenish the ranks of the UCLA men’s water polo program in the summer prior to the 1991 season.
Although he was a prolific high school scorer, Bruin coaches planned to redshirt Adam Krikorian as a freshman in order to help him transition into the competitive world of collegiate water polo.
One problem: Somebody forgot to mention that part to Adam Krikorian.
The former Bruin player and men’s and women’s water polo coach is leaving the coaching post to take the reins of the women’s national team, setting his sights on Olympic gold.
UCLA athletics will certainly miss Krikorian’s recruiting and coaching prowess, but his legacy with the university remains intact.
PLAYING AT UCLA: 1992-1995
Few people know Krikorian better than Guy Baker, the former coach of the Bruins’ men’s and women’s water polo teams and current Director of Olympic Development for USA Water Polo. Having spent so much of his career working with Krikorian, Baker has had a firsthand look at the career of the man who impacted UCLA water polo from his earliest days with the program.
“Adam wasn’t necessarily part of our plan going into his freshman season,” Baker said. “We had 12 new recruits and we didn’t really expect any of them to stand out like he did … but he showed such a competitive nature and refused to break down in the workouts leading up to the season that he made the team and ended up being the driving force for us.”
The rest was history.
In 1995, Krikorian captained his team to its first national title since 1972.
By then, Baker knew he had a special leader on his team.
“As a captain, he had everything you could ask for,” Baker said. “His intensity and will were really unmatched, and he was tremendous in helping us as a coaching staff lead the team to the championship.”
In addition to the unique set of countless intangibles that he brought to the table, Krikorian led his team with 31 goals as a senior, and garnered second-team All-American honors. Upon the completion of a triumphant playing career, Krikorian found his next calling that allowed him to remain a Bruin and remain involved with the sport: coaching.
COACHING AT UCLA: 1996-2009
If ever anyone was suited to coach at UCLA, it was Adam Krikorian.
Having helped rejuvenate a formerly glorious program as a player, Krikorian promptly turned his focus and competitive nature to orchestrating success from outside the pool.
From 1996 to 1998, Krikorian served under Baker in various capacities in both the men’s and women’s programs, a stretch that saw the men’s team win another national title and the women’s team win a pair of championships. By then, Baker had a pretty good idea that he had the ideal successor lined up.
“Even when (Krikorian) was a captain, we saw some great coach-like qualities,” Baker said. “It was an easy transition for a guy with his personality to move into coaching.”
With Baker preparing to move on to coach the national team, he and Krikorian split coaching duties. After the 1999-2000 season, Krikorian officially took the helm for both programs. The men’s team won championships in his first two years as head coach and once more in 2004, while the women’s team brought home three national titles and finished no lower than third in the nation in his first six seasons as coach.
Krikorian had established himself as a player’s coach ““ one whose intensity and passion for the game proved contagious.
“(Krikorian’s) competitiveness is what sets him apart,” UCLA sophomore attacker Priscilla Orozco said. “That spirit translates to us as players during practice and games, in and out of the pool. However, he’s always relaxed, controlled and patient, which makes for a tremendous balance. That’s really what helped us win so many championships.”
Upon leaving the UCLA women’s program, the most prominent feather in Krikorian’s cap will likely be the five consecutive national championships with which he closed his UCLA career. The fifth title, coming just one month ago, was the least likely, as the Bruins had to pull off upsets in both the semifinals and finals over teams that they had yet to beat during the regular season.
“Every (championship run) is so different,” Krikorian said. “But I have to rank this one up there with the first NCAA championship in 2001 in regards to being the most improbable. There were not a lot of people in the water polo world that believed we could get this done. This is truly a phenomenal achievement.”
The team was buoyed by the performances of seniors Tanya Gandy, Anne Belden, Katie Rulon and Brittany Fullen, who became the second straight class to go through the program 4-for-4 on NCAA titles and the last class to be coached by Krikorian for four years.
“It has been such a great experience with (Krikorian),” Gandy said. “He amazed me with his knowledge of the game, his competitiveness, and his coaching. Everyone respects him and has an immense trust in what he has to say.”
USA WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM COACH: 2009-?
In accepting what he called his “dream job,” Krikorian leaves behind a program on which he has left a lasting imprint. After breaking the news to his team in early April, Krikorian enjoyed a memorable, emotional final chapter with the women’s team.
“I never really thought about it being my last season; I didn’t put any added pressure on myself,” he said. “My time with the UCLA women’s team has been phenomenal. I’m just happy to have been a part of it.”
Krikorian’s new job leaves UCLA water polo in a state of transition. Last Wednesday, top Krikorian assistants were tabbed to fill the vacated positions, with Adam Wright taking over the men’s program and Brandon Brooks assuming the leadership of the women’s team.
The in-house promotions will likely lessen the difficulty facing the players who will continue playing at UCLA without the man who recruited and coached them.
“We initially thought it would be difficult to keep the same attitude and pride (with Krikorian leaving),” Orozco, one of 18 returners for the 2010 squad, said. “After talking to (Krikorian), we’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with it all and we realize that it’s up to us girls to continue to pass on what he’s taught us.”
In his new position, Krikorian will inherit what Baker calls the world’s best program since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The selection process for the Olympic coach was intensive, but Baker believes he could not have found a better candidate.
“I view Adam as being easily the most qualified,” Baker said. “He’s a natural fit with the pressures and successes he’s dealt with at UCLA. To us, in looking at everyone who was out there, he really stood out.”