BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A historical note – Since the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy, no athlete from a college outside the state of California has made the United States Men’s Water Polo Team roster.
Athletes have hailed from outside California – including from North Dakota, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Tennessee among other states – but no athlete that attended a school outside the Golden State has had a chance to go for gold in men’s water polo.
Fans of the sport looking for the last non-California collegiate team athletes to make the field need to go back to 1956 – the year of the famed “Blood in the Water” match pitting the Soviet Union versus Hungary – when three natives of Chicago hailing from DePaul University and Northwestern University made up a third of the 10 man roster the United States sent to Melbourne, Australia, which placed fifth at the Olympics.
Led by captain Bill Kooistra – who previously competed at the 1952 games in Helsinki, Finland, to help Team USA to a Fourth Place finish – and his younger brother Sam Kooistra who both attended DePaul, Team USA was backstopped by Long Beach State University alumnus Bob Horn – who was born in Minneapolis, Minn. and later became the head water polo at the University of California-Los Angeles – and DePaul graduate Ken Hahn.
Playing in Group B at the Olympics, Team USA defeated Great Britain, 5-3, on November 28 and fell to Hungary, 6-2, on November 30 to finish second in the bracket thanks to Hungary also upending Great Britain, 6-1, on November 29.
The top two teams in each preliminary group advanced to the championship, in which they played each of the four other championship teams they had not previously faced. The results of the preliminary round game against the team from their group carried over into the final round.
Team USA went 1-3 in the championship round as the Americans fell to Yugoslavia, 5-1, on December 1; defeated Germany, 4-3, on December 3; suffering a 3-2 setback against Italy on December 4; and dropped a 3-1 game to the Soviet Union on December 5 to clinch Fifth Place , behind Hungary, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and Italy. The United States placed ahead of Germany as the Germans did not win a game – but did tie eventual Silver Medalist Yugoslavia with a 2-2 score.
Following the Olympics, the Kooistra’s combined to help Team USA win the gold medal at the 1959 Pan American Games hosted in Chicago.
The trio all experienced success outside the water following their international experiences:
Sam Kooistra: Born on August 18, 1935, Sam Kooistra swam and played water polo for the Illinois Athletic Club, served in the United States Navy submarine corps and later became a fire chief. A 1977 inductee to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, he became a district chief of the Chicago Fire Department. He also competed in masters’ swimming into his 60s prior to passing away on September 18, 2010.
A member of the AAU Senior National Championship Outdoor Team (1955, 1958) and the Indoor Team (1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962), he was an alternate on the 1955 Pan American Games and 1960 Olympic Games rosters.
A 12-time AAU All-America selection and the 1967 AAU Nationals Curren Award recipient (presented by the New York Athletic Club to the MVP of the National Indoor Championships each year), Sports Illustrated listed him among the top world water polo players in the late 1950’s and early 60’s.
Bill Kooistra: A 1976 inductee to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame as a charter member, Bill Kooistra competed for the Illinois Athletic Club.
Born on August 26, 1926, he served as an Aircraft Recognition Instructor for the United States Navy in the Philippine Islands from 1944-to-46 during World War II.
Following the war, he went off to college and was an active athlete on the Northwestern team, club teams and with the United States National Team from 1946-1962
A 14-time AAU National Championship Champion, he was captain of the United States Pan American team in 1955 (Mexico City) and 1959 (Chicago) in addition to being part of the Olympic teams in 1952 and 1956.
A nationally rated referee following his playing days, he served as Secretary of the United States Olympic Committee (1956-to-1960) and was an Organizing Committee member for the for 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago.
A 13-time AAU All-America selection, the recipient of the 1962 John Curren Award as the MVP of the AAU Championship, a member of the AAU National Water Polo Committee and the Vice President of the Chicago Water Polo Association, he passed away on March 30, 1995.
Ken Hahn: A 1982 inductee to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Ken Hahn was born on June 5, 1928 and was an active athlete from 1950-to-1960.
A member of the 1955 and 1958 AAU Senior Outdoor (1955, 1958) and Indoor (1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960) National Championship teams, he competed on the 1959 Pan American Championship team and was an alternate on the 1952 Olympic squad.
An AAU All America selection in 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958 and 1959, he passed away on August 2, 2006.
