POSITION:
Attacker
HEIGHT:
6’1’’
WEIGHT:
195
lbs.
EDUCATION:
Stanford 2005
CLUB:
Bissolati Cremona, Jug Dubrovnik, NY Athletic Club
BIRTHDAY:
11/21/1981
BIRTHPLACE:
Rio de Janeiro
HOMETOWN:
Long Beach, CA.
Captain of the Siver Medal winning squad at 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China...Led team in scoring with 17 goals while adding four assists...Named Olympic All-Star team...Arguably one of the top players in the world...Possesses great outside shooting ability...One of only two returning players with experience in two Olympic Games.
INTERNATIONAL/CLUB: Finished fourth at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy...Led the team in scoring with 12 goals in six matches, added eight steals and six field blocks...Led team to Silver Medal finish at 2008 FINA World League Super Final with 16 goals including seven in victory over China...Scored three goals in upset of #1 ranked Croatia on May 31...Tallied four goals at 2007 FINA World League Super Final… Led Team USA with 15 goals en route to gold medal at 2007 Pan American Games in his native Brazil… Named top scorer at 2007 World Championships in Melbourne after tallying 19 goals despite not advancing to the medal rounds… USOC Athlete of the Year three times... Led team with 18 goals at 2005 FINA World League and 13 at 2005 FINA World Championships… Ranked 2nd in scoring percentage at 2005 FINA World Championships… Led US with 15 goals (ranked 2nd overall) at 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, including a hat trick to help the team qualify for the 7th-place game... Became one of the highest-paid players in water polo when he signed with Italian club team, Bissolati Cremona... Scored tournament-high 33 goals during 2003 Pan American Games... Finished as top scorer in FINA World League with 12 goals... Led team in scoring at 2003 U.S. Cup with eight goals, including three versus Australia… Named world’s seventh-best male athlete in the June 2003 edition of Men’s Journal…Scored 12 goals in four games in Team USA’s first-place finish at 2003 French International… Led Team USA in scoring with 29 goals in first year of FINA World League, including seven in season opener against Croatia in Los Alamitos (CA)… Sixth in league in scoring, but was only player in top six who didn’t advance to Super Final… Only U.S. player to net at least one goal in each game… Leading scorer at 2001 World Championships in Japan… Led team in scoring with 14 goals in Japan despite playing with a broken ear drum… Scored 13 goals in outstanding Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000, the fourth highest scorer in the Games... Selected by color commentator Jim Kruse for NBC’s All-World Team following Olympics... High scorer at Pan American Junior Water Polo Championships in 1998.
PROFESSIONAL: Played for Yug in Croatia in 2008-2009...Led Bissolati Cremona in scoring for 2005-2006 … First in scoring in all of Italy for the 2006 season.
COLLEGE: First-ever player to win prestigious Peter J. Cutino award four consecutive years... First-Team All-American from 2001-2004... MPSF Player of the Year four consecutive years from 2001-2004... 2004 American Water Polo Coaches Association Player of the Year for fourth straight season... Mountain Pacific Federation four-time winner... Named co-player of the year in 2003 NCAA tournament... Scored 80 goals his senior season... Shattered prior record by more than 100 goals when he became Stanford’s all-time scorer with 332 goals… Named player of the year at 2002 NCAA Tournament… Scored 95 goals in 2002, becoming Stanford’s top single-season scorer…In 2001, he earned NCAA Player of the Year and All-American Player of the Year…Voted 2001 NCAA Tournament MVP… Voted co-MVP of 2001 MPSF Tournament… Twice named MPSF Player of the Week… Winner of Stanford Block “S” Freshman Award… Nation’s leading scorer with 68 goals, a freshman school record and ninth-best in school history.
HIGH SCHOOL: All-American as well as All-Academic Team honors from 1996-99 at Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA... Selected to All-CIF Team from 1996-99; CIF Player of the Year three times… Father Rick was an assistant National Team coach in 2004 and coached Tony throughout his age group career and during his first three years at Long Beach Wilson.
PERSONAL: Biggest influence in water polo is his father, Rick, former Men’s National Team Coach… Sister, Cassie, was a standout water polo player at Cal State Long Beach and now plays professional water polo in Italy... Favorite musical artists are Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen... Says he plays water polo “to win a gold medal for the USA”… Admits his most embarrassing water polo moment was when he was holding his MVP tournament trophy and broke it while on the podium… Favorite pregame meal is Pasta Pomodoro.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS:
2009 FINA World Championships, Rome, Italy, 4th Place
2009 FINA World League Super Final, Podgorica, Montenegro, 4th place
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China, 2nd place
2008 FINA World League Super Finals, Genoa, Italy, 2nd place
2007 FINA World League Super Finals, Berlin, Germany 5th place
2007 Pan American Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1st place
2007 FINA World Championships, Melbourne, Australia, 9th place
2006 ASUA Cup, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1st place
2006 FINA World League Super Finals, Athens, Greece, 5th place
2005 FINA World Championships, Montreal, Canada, 11th place
2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece, 7th place
2004 Torneo di Napoli, Naples, Italy, 3rd place
2003 FINA World League Super Finals, New York, NY, 3rd place
2003 Pan American Games, Dominican Republic, 1st place
2003 FINA World Championships, Barcelona, Spain, 6th place
2003 U.S. Cup, Stanford, CA, United States, 2nd place
2003 French International, Nice, France, 1st place
2002 FINA World Cup, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 7th place
2002 Tristar International, Kranj, Slovenia, 3rd place
2002 Eight-Nations Tournament, Nice, France, 3rd place
2001 FINA World Championships, Fukuoka, Japan, 7th place
2001 Poseidon Cup, Athens, Greece, 5th place
2001 Pan American Qualification Tournament, Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep., 1st place
2000 Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia, 6th place
Fun Facts:
Favorite Food: Sushi
Favorite Movie: The Last of the Mohicans
Favorite Actor: Clint Eastwood
Favorite Actress: Penelope Cruz
Favorite Songs: “Alive” by Peal Jam and “Come Out and Play” by Offspring
Personal Theme Song: “Hawaii 5-0” (theme song from the TV show)
Favorite Musical Artists: Pearl Jam, Hot Chip, Pete Yorn
Favorite Color: Blue
Best Present Ever Received: Computer from grandmother
Best Halloween Costume: Zombie
Special Power: Fluency in every language that’s ever existed
Favorite Quote: “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”—George S. Patton
Etcetera: After water polo, favorite sport to play is baseball… best thing about water polo is that it’s “the toughest sport in the world where one has to focus, think; it combines mental and physical aspects more so than any other sport”… got into water polo through his father, a longtime coach, and has never stopped loving the game… winning as a team is the most amazing feat