With a career full of achievements, it is easy to lose track of everything that Adam Wright has accomplished as both a water polo player and coach. Currently the UCLA men’s water polo head coach, Wright has been winning championships as early as high school.
That CIF title at Wilson High School, though, can easily seem overshadowed by two NCAA championships, All-American honors and almost a decade on the United States national team.
However, from all of these accomplishments, Wright is able to bring a valuable tool to his water polo teams: experience.
“Obviously Adam has played at the highest level this game is played at, so I think the players really respect the fact that everything he’s talking about, he’s done,” said assistant coach Dustin Litvak. “He’s been there before, both here at UCLA and also at an international level.”
As an undergraduate at UCLA, Wright won back-to-back NCAA championships with the water polo team in 1999 and 2000. Since then, his international career has included three Olympic appearances for the United States.
Returning to Westwood in 2008, Wright joined the men’s and women’s water polo teams as an assistant coach. The women won their fifth-straight NCAA championship that spring before Wright took over as the head coach for the men.
Wright is quick to relate his achievements back to this year’s team, acknowledging the experience of the eight seniors who have led the 2014 UCLA team to a 25-2 record. Looking ahead to the playoffs, he says that their combined knowledge will push the team forward.
“This group has done a fantastic job because a lot of these guys have played in big games and have an understanding that I’ve been in the same situation as them many times,” Wright said. “I know what it feels like to be an athlete in a pressure situation.”
Having competed in the water so recently and at the highest level, Wright’s players said he offers a unique coaching perspective that he works to instill in his team.
“It’s an honor, honestly. He knows so much about the game and he cares so much about the game,” said senior attacker Daniel Lenhart. “He’s had so much experience overseas and with the national team, so he’s really integrated that into our training. He can just jump in the water with us if we don’t understand something.”
With Wright and the Bruin’s core of eight seniors, the team heads into this weekend’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament with hopes of continuing its winning ways. The top-seeded Bruins will play the winner of the No. 8 and No. 9 play-in game in the opening round on Friday afternoon in Long Beach.