Oeding driving in style

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - It’s not a gold medal, but for United States

Olympic water polo captain Chris Oeding, a new Cadillac DeVille isn’t too

shabby either.

Oeding, a former Corona del Mar High water polo standout and currently

the Orange Coast College water polo coach, was one of 100 Olympians to receive new cars from General Motors, which teamed up with the United

Auto Workers as part of the “Team Behind the Team” program.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Oeding said during ceremonies at Newport

Harbor High. “Any time you’re training for the Olympics, the more focused

you can get on your sport, the better. With all the traveling we do, this

new car allows us to have one less thing to worry about.”

This program was developed to help lessen the burden some Olympic

athletes deal with trying to train, compete and still support themselves

or their own families.

“We received the news about the program last July,” Oeding said. “We

filled out all the paperwork and basically, we’ve been checking our

mailboxes ever since. When I found out I was one of the athletes to

receive a new Cadillac, I went crazy, jumping around on the bed.”

With 1,800 applicants, an athletic advisory panel was assembled and

selection was based on financial need, training and competition

requirements.

The panel is co-chaired by Olympic gold medalists Grant Hill and Dorothy

Hamill and made up of track and field stars Evelyn Ashford, Carl Lewis

and Bob Mathias, swimmer Pablo Morales and figure skater Kristi

Yamaguchi.

The 100 selected winners received one of the eight vehicles offered by

GM, which include the Cadillac DeVille, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Alero,

Pontiac Grand Am, Pontiac Grand Prix, Pontiac Montana Minivan, Buick

Regal and Saturn.

“Water Polo wasn’t aligned with a National Governing Body, but I noticed

the swimmers were aligned with Cadillac,” Oeding said. “I just kept my

fingers crossed and could not believe the kind of car we were getting.”

Famed fashion designer Joseph Abboud will detail each vehicle with a

commemorative Olympic Edition package, available only to hopeful families

participating in the program.

Oeding was one of four water polo players to receive a new Cadillac

DeVille. The others were Chi Kredell, Dan Hackett and Bradley Schumacher.

The Americans are coming off two second-place tournament finishes against

some the best teams in the world and with the Olympics rapidly

approaching, Oeding likes where the team is heading.

“We seem to be improving with each training session,” Oeding said. “We

have the talent to be able to medal in Sydney. A lot will depend on when

the going gets tough, how will we respond to the challenge.”