Soon after the new year began, a family lost its father and husband, Tustin High School lost its beloved coach, and the Orange County water polo world lost a young talent. Tustin High School and the North Irvine Water Polo Club and families are mourning the loss of their coach, Francisco “Paco” Gonzalez, after he…

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A well-known water polo coach has been convicted of sexual assaults on nine girls he coached and a misdemeanor assault on a 10th, according to verdicts announced Nov. 16. Bahram Hojreh, 46, was convicted Tuesday of 22 felony counts including lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14, lewd acts on a…

TOKYO—Maddie Musselman held her phone out, and the U.S. women’s water polo team gathered for a picture on the top step of the podium. It was a familiar scene. The dynasty is alive and well. Musselman scored three times, Ashleigh Johnson made 11 saves and the United States won its third consecutive gold medal on…

TOKYO—Francesco Di Fulvio and Italy won the 2019 world championship in men’s water polo, establishing themselves as gold medal contenders for the Olympics. Then the coronavirus pandemic arrived. A year after the Games were supposed to occur, Di Fulvio sees a wide-open competition in Tokyo. “We are the same team. We do the same play,…

Reigning world champions the United States lost 10–9 to Hungary at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre on Wednesday—their first defeat at the Olympics since 2008 and ending the longest winning streak in women’s water polo at the Games at 12 matches. Gunning for their third straight gold in Tokyo, the U.S. women last failed to…

Eighteen-year-old Jessie Rose, a senior at Laguna Beach High School in Southern California, felt inspired to write a poem. “When my world seems to be collapsing, I know you are always there for me. You make me work for your love, but the suffering is worth it,” she wrote. Rose told The Epoch Times that…