Tony Azevedo has been touted as the "Michael Jordan of

water polo." At 18, he was the youngest U.S. National

Team member ever; he was the youngest player on the

2000 U.S. Olympic Team by seven years. He was the

leading scorer (13 goals) for the U.S. at the 2001

World Championships and led Stanford to the NCAA title

as a freshman.

How to be a great water polo player

Tip #1 - Develop your swimming skills

"Swimming is such an important part of water polo.

It's so hard, it's so much grinding away. But it's

such an important aspect. If you are out there and you

are two or three seconds faster than the other player,

you're going to have so much of an advantage."

Tip #2 - Size and speed aren't everything

"Ball handling, I think, is the most important [part

of water polo]. Everyone can be big and everyone can

be fast, but ball-handling, the people who know how to

play with the ball, the people who do have those great

hands and have those great talents, I think, is what

separates a great player from the normal player."

Tip #3 - Don't neglect scoring

"Shooting is the main thing of the game. If you put

the ball in the goal, you win. So shooting is so

important. Sometimes, people don't take that too

seriously."

Tip #4 - Build strength

"Strength is becoming such an important part of the

game. This last year, I probably put on about 10

pounds, just because the game is changing and I have

to adjust to the game."

Tip #5 - Prepare yourself for the grind

"Endurance is the name of the game. The 1st quarter is

even and the second and third quarters are tough. But

it comes down to the 4th quarter. It's usually a one

goal game and its the teams that have that endurance,

that have that knowledge of the game, that have been

there before, are the ones that have succeeded."

Tip #6 - Team success is your success

"Individual success is great, but it's not nearly as

great as team success. No matter how much I get

better, if my team never gets better, than I'll never

get that championship; I'll never achieve my goals. My

two main purposes out there are how good can I make my

team and how much better can I make the player next to

me."