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Michael Evans (water polo)

Michael Scott "Evo" Evans (born March 26, 1960) is an American water polo player who competed for the University of California, Irvine and won a silver medal in the 1988 summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. He later competed for the U.S. Olympic men's water polo teams in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Early life

Evans was born in Fontana, California, on March 26, 1960. He played water polo for nearby Chaffey High School in Ontario, California from 1974-1978, where he was coached by George Harris. During his years playing water polo for Chaffey High, Evans was named the Citrus Belt League Player of the Year in both 1976 and 1977, and in 1976 set a CIF record of 148 goals scored in a season.

With Evans playing his first year at UC Irvine, having graduated Chaffey High in June, 1978, the Chaffey High Water Polo team won their 30th consecutive Citrus Belt League regular season water polo game on November 8, 1978. Evans had scored a season record of 153 goals during his last year playing for Chaffey High.

University of California, Irving

Graduating in 1984, he attended University of California, Irvine, where he played water polo from 1979-1983 for long-serving Head Coach Ted Newland. Evans was a collegiate All-American in 1982 and 1983, playing in the driver position for U. Cal, and scoring 102 goals in 1983. In an exceptionally strong era during Newland's tenure, the U. Cal Irving water polo team made the NCAA semi-finals in 1981, 1982, and 1983. In 1982, his most noteworthy collegiate season, Evans helped lead U. Cal Irving team to an NCAA national team water polo championship.

In team play, from 1983-1996, Evans played for the Newport Foundation.

1988-1996 Olympics

Representing the U.S. Olympic team, Evan won a team silver medal in the 1988 men's Olympic water polo competition in Seoul, Korea. He also participated in the Water Polo event at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where the U.S. team took an overall fourth place with Italy taking the gold, and Spain taking the Silver. Evans was later on the U.S. mens water polo team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Hungary and Italy were the heavy pre-game favorites and the U.S. Olympic water Polo team took an overall seventh place. Spain took the gold medal, Croatia took the silver, and Italy took the bronze.

International competition

Evans was named a U.S. National Water polo team member, where he served from 1985-1996. He was a member of the U.S. National teams that won a gold Medal at the Summer Pan American Games in Indianapolis in 1987 and a silver medal at the Pan American games in Havana, Cuba in 1991. Evans was a member of FINA World Championship teams from 1986-1991, and was a 1988 member of the Goodwill Team.

Evans was a member of the only United States World Cup team in 1991 that won a world championship. He competed with the U.S. National team in Olympic Festivals in 1979, 1990, and 1991.

Honors

In 2001, he was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. In 2020, he became a member of the U. Cal Irving Hall of Fame.

After ending his elite career in Water Polo, Evans served as a water polo age group coach and referee. In business, he did primarily estate and financial planning for the Cornerstone Benefits Insurance Company which he started on his own.

See also

References

External links