SAN JOSE, Calif.— San Josè State Men's Water Polo mourns the loss of former Assistant Coach Dante Dettamanti who passed away Tuesday at the age of 80. Dettamanti was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2002. He coached at SJSU in 2014, the first year the Men's Water Polo team was reinstated after the program's 34-year absence. Dettamanti was instrumental in recruiting the first athletes to the program and molding the team. He worked alongside current Head Coach Bruce Watson and Associate Head Coach Gabor Sarusi who both felt his impact in and out of the pool.
"Dante was a great friend and colleague, and had tremendous success in intercollegiate water polo," Watson said of Dettamanti. "I enjoyed countless hours spent talking with him about water polo tactics and coaching, we had similar philosophies about the game and I always appreciated what a good person he was with anyone he encountered in or out of the game, he was a true gentleman and he will always be missed!"
Dettamanti also coached the Stanford men's team from 1977-2001 where he led the Cardinal to eight NCAA Championships, six runner-up finishes and 20 top-four finishes in 25 seasons. For all of his accomplishments, Dettamanti was named the NCAA Men's Water Polo Coach of the Year six times. Dettamanti became only the second coach in NCAA history to win over 600 career games and the only coach to win an NCAA championship in four different decades.
On the international side, Dettamanti was the USA Men's National Team assistant coach from 1988-91. Throughout his career, Dettamanti coached over 100 athletes who earned All-American Honors. Twelve of those athletes went on to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo team.
"Dante was a great colleague, mentor and a friend. I really liked talking with him about international water polo, current and past events," Sarusi said. "He had some great stories about national teams and players. Dante didn't hesitate to offer his help when SJSU announced the program's reinstatement. Bruce and I were still coaching elsewhere at the time and could not recruit yet, so Dante assisted us early on. He will be truly missed!"
Dettamanti is credited with helping restart the SJSU Water Polo program, and remained a familiar face in the Bay Area. He graduated from UC Davis in 1965 with a degree in Engineering and was a conference record-holding freestyle swimmer and an all-league water polo player.
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