We’re one day till the weekend, and we need it!
Today’s featured athlete is a living Water Polo legend.
Genai Kerr is an American water polo player. He is a member of the United States men’s national water polo team and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics..[1] Genai was a member of the United States Men’s National Water Polo Team for 12 years and played in the 2004 Athens Olympics, 2003 & 2007 Pan American Gold Medal games, and multiple World Championships. He is one of the only athletes in history to compete internationally as a goalie and as a field player. Most recently he was named MVP of the 2012 US Open after he helped Newport Water Polo Foundation win the national championship. Genai has coached at every level, from age group to Division 1 college programs. Over the last 15 years he has run hundreds of camps with Nike 5meter Water Polo Camps.
Genai got involved in water polo by accident, following the whistles to what he thought was a basketball game and ended up at the pool at the age of 15. He excelled at both water polo and basketball at Coronado High School and received a water polo scholarship to UC Irvine to play under Coach Ted Newland. Standing 6’8 with a 7’1 wing span, Genai dominated the sport, earning All-American honors and Big West Male Scholar Athlete of the year. Genai went on to become a NCAA All-American in 1998 and 1999 and was awarded Big West Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year his senior year. He went on to become the first African American to represent USA Water Polo in a major World Championship.
Genai on playing in Europe where the sport is huge: Well it was a lot of fun… in Eastern Europe especially, just because the sport’s so big there. It’s actually the national sport of a number of those countries. You can go to a club game with six to seven thousand people in attendance, all screaming. I really thrive off of that. And, being the first African American water polo player to play with the United States, I was seen as a bit of a novelty. I remember in Italy when I still had my dreadlocks, the crowd would sing Bob Marley during games. It was an experience. Prior to the 2009 World Championships in Rome we had a tournament in Montenegro. Each time I made a block, fans would yell “Kobe” or “Obama”. Definitely a different kind of energy.
Check out Genai’s Olympic promo before the 2004 Games