Water polo has west view

Tony Azevedo was 14 when he watched the Spanish water polo team erupt in joy after capturing the Olympic gold medal in 1996. The moment is still fresh in his mind.

“When they won a medal, they were kissing each other and they were crying,” Azevedo said. “It was then that I knew the only thing I want to do is represent my country with a medal around my neck.”

On Monday, USA Water Polo announced that the Long Beach Wilson High graduate and three-time Olympian will captain a men’s team that will try to bring home its first medal since 1988, when the U.S. captured the silver.

Azevedo and six others team members, including fellow Long Beach native Ryan Bailey, were part of a 2004 Olympic squad that placed seventh. This time, the entire squad has ties to California through their hometowns or college. The men will probably face another uphill battle, entering Beijing on the heels of a ninth-place finish at the 2007 world championships.

Since then, the men’s team got their fourth new coach in four years -- Pepperdine’s Terry Schroeder, who won medals with the 1984 and ’88 teams -- and trained against Croatia, Serbia and Hungary, three of water polo’s elite squads.

Azevedo said Beijing will test just how far the men’s squad has come in a year full of skeptics.

“We have been pushed around and ridiculed by the media and other people who don’t believe in us,” Azevedo said. “I think the team just realized that all we have is each other.”

Like the men’s squad, the women’s team has a large Southern California composition, but unlike the men, the women have flirted with gold since women’s water polo became an official Olympic event in 2000. That year, the women lost in the final seconds of the gold-medal game to Australia. In 2004, they captured the bronze after a 6-5 semifinals loss to Italy.

Commerce native Brenda Villa and UC Berkeley graduate Heather Petri were on both medal-winning squads and return this year. But only one other former Olympian, Fullerton native and 2004 team member Natalie Golda, will join them on this year’s squad.

Women’s Coach Guy Baker, who was at the helm in 2000 and 2004, said even though most other contenders have more former Olympians, the youth of his squad shouldn’t be a large obstacle to overcome.

“These kids have grown up in our system so they understand what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said. “We’re the same team we were at the 2007 world championships.”

That team won that world championship and earned the world No. 1 ranking. Baker is quick to add, however, that this team isn’t the best in the world going into Beijing after losing to Russia in the FINA World League Super Final.

“In a year, so much changes. . . . “ Baker said. “It’s tremendously close between all the teams.”

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chris.hine@latimes.com

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U.S. Olympics water polo

Men’s and women’s water polo teams (*former Olympian; **former two-time Olympian). Eleven women are Californians , and 14 men:

WOMEN’S SQUAD

* Goalkeepers: Betsey Armstrong, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Jaime Hipp (Komer), Fresno.

* Attackers: **Heather Petri, Orinda, Calif.; **Brenda Villa, Commerce (captain); Patty Cardenas, Commerce; Brittany Hayes, Santa Ana.

* All-around: Lauren Wenger, Long Beach.

* Defenders: *Natalie Golda, Fullerton; Jessica Steffens, Danville, Calif.; Elsie Windes, Portland, Ore.; Alison Gregorka, Ann Arbor, Mich.

* Centers: Moriah van Norman, San Diego; Kami Craig, Santa Barbara.

* Alternate: Erika Figge, Rancho Santa Margarita.

* Coach: Guy Baker.

MEN’S SQUAD

* Drivers: **Tony Azevedo, Long Beach; Peter Varellas, Moraga, Calif.; *Adam Wright, Seal Beach.

* 2-Meter D: **Ryan Bailey, Long Beach; *Layne Beaubien, Coronado, Calif.; Tim Hutten, Seal Beach; Peter Hudnut, Encino; J.W. Krumpholz, Santa Ana; Rick Merlo, Fresno.

* Goalies: *Brandon Brooks, Honolulu; Merrill Moses, Palos Verdes.

* Utility: *Jesse Smith, Coronado, Calif.; *Jeff Powers, San Luis Obispo.

* Alternates: Brian Alexander, Cambria, Calif.; John Mann, Newport Beach.

* Coach: Terry Schroeder.