Marc Hunt Named Interim Women’s Water Polo Head Coach at UC Irvine
IRVINE, Calif, October 1. FORMER UC Irvine All-American Marc Hunt has been hired as the women’s water polo interim head coach at UC Irvine, announced today by Athletic Director Bob Chichester.
Hunt is currently in his third season as an assistant coach to Ted Newland for the UC Irvine men’s water polo team. Hunt was a member of the Anteater men’s water polo program from 1989-93, earning All-American accolades his final two seasons.
He led the Anteaters with 60 points (53 goals, including seven two-pointers) in 1993 when he was a first team All-American and also an All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team selection. He was named UCI’s male Big West Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1993-94.
Hunt will serve in an interim basis as Dan Klatt, another former UCI All-American, will become the permanent head coach beginning in the Fall of 2004. Klatt is currently a member of the U.S. National Water Polo team and is training for the 2004 Olympics, which precludes him from beginning the position immediately.
“This is a unique situation for our department,” Chichester said. “We have the opportunity to hire an outstanding young coach in Dan Klatt and we are not going to pass up the opportunity. While he is training for the Olympics, we are fortunate to have Marc work with our women’s program.
“Marc has worked with Coach Newland and our men’s team and he has experience with all aspects of a Division I program. We hope that it will be an exciting transition and that our women’s program will benefit from the knowledge and experience that both of these coaches bring.”
Klatt graduated from UCI in 2001 with a degree in social sciences before joining the U.S. National team. While at UCI, Klatt was a two-time All-American in water polo and a first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) choice. He also swam for the Anteaters from 1997-1999, capturing the 50 and 100-yard freestyle titles at the 1999 Big West Championships.
Klatt has served as the Foothill High School girls’ water polo coach since 1999, winning four consecutive CIF Division I titles. He has been named the CIF Southern Section Division I Coach of the Year twice as well as the Orange County Register Coach of the Year last season.
“Dan has distinguished himself as a talented teacher and tactician,” Chichester said. “His success coaching at the high school level and participation on our national team presents the type of person we want to have lead and enhance the quality of our program.”