Former Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo Inducted To The USA Water Polo Hall Of Fame
4/7/2025 9:34:00 AM | Men's Water Polo, Women's Water Polo
Azevedo is the third Long Beach State coach to be honored.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – USA Water Polo announced this Monday the 41st Hall of Fame Class. Former Long Beach State head coach, Ricardo Azevedo will be inducted along Melissa Siedman, Jesse Smith, David Alberstein and Denny Harper.
Azevedo is the third Long Beach State head coach to be inducted to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame where previously Gavin Arroyo and Ken Lindgren have been added.
At Long Beach State, Azevedo played for two seasons (1978-1979) and came back to the Beach to coach both programs leading the men's team from 1999-2005 (107-96) and the women's from 2000-2005 (119-75). In 2002, Azevedo was awarded MPSF Women's Water Polo Coach of the Year.
Outside of LBSU, Azevedo played the Brazilian Water Polo team at 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada. As a coach, he led the USA men's team in 1996 Atlanta and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Azevedo was the head coach of the Chinese Women's team. After the Olympics, he headed back to his hometown and became the technical director of the Brazilian Water Polo team from 2017-2019.
