Guy Baker to lead national waterpolo team

Tuesday, February 24, 1998

Guy Baker to lead national waterpolo team

COACH: Bruin gears up to prepare U.S. women¹s team for trip
to Olympics

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Contributor

This weekend, UCLA women¹s and men¹s water polo head
coach Guy Baker was selected to be the U.S. women¹s national
team head coach by the governing body of U.S. Water Polo. U.S.
Water Polo has yet to send out an official press release, thus
Baker¹s status as head coach is unofficial but almost certain
at this point.

Baker is also an assistant coach of the U.S. men¹s national
team, but upon validation of his women¹s national team head
coaching position, he will prioritize his time towards the
women¹s team. He will start coaching for the national team
after the end of the women¹s collegiate season this
spring.

³The committee asked about my background, tactics, training
schedule and dealing with players,² said Baker, who was
interviewed and notified of his position Saturday. ³Our goal
for the women¹s national team is to qualify for the Olympics
at the 1999 FINA (Federation Internationale De Natation Amateur)
Cup and place higher than our main competitors from
Canada.²

Baker¹s resume and job record was impressive enough to
convince the committee to hire him as the women¹s national
team head coach. Besides being an assistant coach of the men¹s
national team at the 1992 Olympic games, Baker is the head coach of
one of the most successful collegiate water polo programs in the
nation. Both of his men¹s and women¹s collegiate squads
were back-to-back national champions, and this year¹s
women¹s team is having yet another great season with an
undefeated streak.

Although Baker plans an intense training season for his national
team, his primary focus now is on his collegiate team, which is now
approaching mid-season.

³I¹m concentrating right now on our collegiate
women¹s team,² Baker said. ³We have a great thing
going with our team, so I don¹t want to take anything away
from that.²

Since there is no time conflict between Baker¹s dedication
to his national and collegiate teams, he has had encouraging
responses from the UCLA athletic department.

³The department has been supportive of me ever since I
attempted for the national head coaching position.²

After the end of the collegiate women¹s season, Baker will
then turn his focus to the national women¹s team. Although he
is very excited about his position, he says he¹ll have no time
to celebrate.

³I¹m getting too old to celebrate! I know the amount
of work that¹s going to be done before the national team
starts practicing. Celebration¹s going to be done once we
qualify for the Olympics, and then we won¹t celebrate until
after the Olympics.²

Scott Quintard/ASUCLA Photography

Guy Baker