Olympian Amanda Longan Joins UCLA Water Polo Coaching Staff
Amanda Longan, an Olympic gold medalist with the United States, has joined the coaching staff of the UCLA women’s water polo team, the school announced Monday.
Longan joins the staff of head coach Adam Wright as an assistant for the women’s team. Joey Fuentes was hired to work with the men’s team.
Longan won a gold medal as the backup goalkeeper at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She was also part of the American team that won its seventh title at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest this summer.
She rose to the national team in 2017 after a starring role at the 2015 Junior World Championships and years on the cadet and youth national teams. The native of Westlake Village, Calif., was a star at USC, winning the 2018 Peter J. Cutino Award as the national player of the year. She helped the Trojans win an NCAA title in 2018.
“We are very fortunate to have someone of Amanda’s caliber in this position as she’s still with the national team,” Wright said in a team statement. “I have had the opportunity to work with Amanda on several occasions and her work ethic is second to none. You can see that by what she accomplished at USC, but also by what she is doing with the national team. She sees the game from a different perspective being in goal, but what is most important will be her ability to connect with the student-athletes on our women’s team. She will be able to demonstrate to them what it takes to play at the highest level. We want to be in a position where we are out in front and have an edge from a training standpoint and we are very glad she decided to be part of our staff.”
Fuentes was an attacker who played at UCLA from 2012-16, graduating at 2017 and coaching at SET Water Polo Club. Fuentes won an NCAA title with the Bruins in the undefeated 2015 season. He earned the Dr. James Puffer Loyalty and Contribution Award in his final season, 2016.