Courtesy: USA Water Polo
Irvine, CA – October 1 – Five more members of the USA Water Polo Men’s Senior National Team have arrived in Europe for competition with professional clubs, Team USA Head Coach Dejan Udovicic announced today. Hannes Daube (Olympiacos) and Tommy Gruwell (Chios) will join many of their teammates in Greece competing in A1 Ethniki. In addition, Marko Vavic (Roma) heads to Italy to compete in Serie A1, Ashworth Molthen (VK Primorac) goes to Montenegro and the Montenegrin League while Jack Turner joins the practice squad of VK-JUG in Croatia. Bennett Williams remains in Greece moving from Chios to NOX-Xania. This follows the announcement in early August of 12 Team USA athletes transferring to clubs in Europe.
Daube joins teammates Max Irving on the Olympiacos squad while Gruwell teams up with Drew Holland at Chios. With the addition of Daube and Gruwell, there are now 11 members of Team USA competing in Greece. Vavic joins Ben Hallock (Pro Recco) in competition in Italy while Turner will see a familiar face in Croatia as Alex Obert is also capping up for VK-JUG. Molthen is the lone member of Team USA in Montenegro but joins a club that routinely finishes among the top teams in the country. Williams joins the NOX-Xania team that finished in 11th place last season in A1 Ethniki.
Athletes with collegiate eligibility remaining including Hannes Daube, Marko Vavic, Ashworth Molthen and Tommy Gruwell have been granted a waiver by the NCAA via their respective collegiate institutions to compete in club competition in Europe. These athletes will receive no salary.