San Diego Well Represented in Olympic Water Polo with UCSD Coach on Staff, Santee Native on Squad

UC San Diego men’s water polo head coach Matt Ustaszewski is heading to the Olympic Games in Paris as an assistant coach with Team USA.

The appointment was made official this week as USA Water Polo announced its Olympic player and staff rosters at a press conference in Los Angeles. Ustaszewski is one of three assistants on head coach Dejan Udovicic’s staff.

In addition, Alex Bowen, a Santee native and Santana High grad, made the cut on a team made up almost entirely of Californians. Paris will be Bowen’s third Olympics.

The U.S. faces Italy on July 28 in a Group A match. Preliminary round play continues through Aug. 5. Medal matches are set for Aug. 11.

It will be Ustaszewski’s second coaching stint at the Olympics. In 2020, he served as Team USA’s video coach in Tokyo, but he also has extensive experience with the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team.

Most recently, he was an assistant coach when the squad competed at the 2024 World Aquatics World Championships in Qatar. He was also an assistant at the 2023 World Championships in Japan.

In 2022, he helped guide the U.S. men to a sixth-place finish at the FINA World Championships in Hungary. Team USA went 2-2 overall, which included a 16-15 penalty shootout victory against Hungary.

That same year, Ustaszewski was with Team USA when it won a silver medal at the FINA World League Super Final in France.

Ustaszewski is heading into his third year as head coach of the team he once led as a player. He served as co-captain of the fifth-ranked UCSD water polo team as a senior in 2003. He graduated in 2004, completing his bachelor’s degree in history.

Last season, the Tritons’ first as a member of the Big West, the team posted a 17-13 record. As host of the first-ever Big West Men’s Water Polo Championship, UCSD won its opening round game against Cal State Fullerton before falling to UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals.

The Opening Ceremony in Paris is set for July 26. All water polo action will take place at the Aquatics Centre, the only permanent sports facility built for the Paris Games.

Team USA has won a total of six medals when water polo has been an official Olympic sport – silver, three (1984 Los Angeles, 1988 Seoul, 2008 Beijing) and bronze, four (1924 Paris, 1932 Los Angeles, 1972 Munich).