Adam Krikorian (born July 22, 1974) is an American

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

coach and the head coach of the

United States women's national water polo team The United States women's national water polo team represents the United States in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the leading teams in the world since the late 1990s. On March 27, 2009, USA Water ...

. He coached the team to gold medals at the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

, and

2020 Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. He was named the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

's Coach of the Games for 2016. He won 15 NCAA national championships as player, assistant coach, and head coach at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Family

Krikorian was born into an Armenian-American family, the youngest son of Gary Krikorian and Joyce (''née'' Srabian). Krikorian is the younger brother of

Blake Krikorian Blake G. Krikorian (August 18, 1967 August 3, 2016) was an American technology executive and entrepreneur, co-founder of Sling Media. Early life and education Krikorian was born into an Armenian-American family, the eldest son of Gary Krikori ...

and Jason Krikorian, founders of

Sling Media Sling Media Inc. is an American technology company that develops placeshifting and Smart TV solutions for consumers, multiple-system operators and set top box manufacturers. The company is based in Foster City, California, and was a subsidiary of ...

. Adam followed his brothers into the pool; Blake also played water polo at UCLA while Jason swam for Cal. Blake died of a heart attack days before the 2016 Olympics began in Rio de Janeiro; Adam went back to Northern California for the funeral before returning to the Olympics. Adam Krikorian is married to Anicia, with whom he has two children, Jack and Annabel. They live in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...

High school and college record

Krikorian, a water polo and swimming standout, attended Mountain View High School before playing college water polo at

. During his senior year in high school, he scored 113 goals and was named honorable mention All-America. He helped his team to a National Junior Olympic championship. He led UCLA to its first

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Championship in 23 years (1995). While at UCLA, Krikorian scored 76 goals and was a four-year letterwinner (1992–1995). He was named a second team All-America and All-

MPSF The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

honoree in 1995. He was captain of the UCLA team in 1994 and 1995. He was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

in 2016.

Coaching career

College

Krikorian became an assistant coach for the UCLA men's water polo team in 1996 and then also the women's water polo team in 1997. During his coaching career, his teams won 15 national championships, 11 as a head coach, three as an assistant coach and one as a player. He was awarded the 2004 national men's water polo coach of the year and the 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007 national women's water polo coach of the year. The 2007 women's title was UCLA's 100th NCAA championship, the first school in history to achieve the milestone. The 2008 women's team had a perfect 33-0 season, including the three games at the MPSF Championship and the three at the NCAA Championship. #1 ranked UCLA beat #3 USC 6-3 for the 2008 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship on May 11, 2008. He is tied for first among active men's water polo coaches in NCAA championships won and led both teams to national titles in the same season 3 times (’99-’00, ’00-’01, ’04-’05). As men’s head coach, he coached 25 All-America selections. Krikorian has coached five Peter J. Cutino Award winners:

Sean Kern Sean Kern is an American water polo player. His position is center forward (two-meter offense). During his water polo career, Kern was a four-time All-American, two-time National Player of the Year, two-time NCAA champion and three-time UCLA scor ...

(2000 and 2001),

Coralie Simmons Coralie Denise Simmons (born March 1, 1977) is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2001, she won the Peter J. Cutino Award, presented annually to the top American collegiate water polo player. ...

(2001),

Natalie Golda Natalie Golda (now Benson, born December 28, 1981) is a former American water polo player and currently the head coach of the newly formed Fresno State Bulldogs water polo team to begin competition in 2018. Considered one of the greatest women's ...

(2005),

Kelly Rulon Kelly Kristen Rulon (born August 16, 1984 in Point Loma, California) is an American water polo player. She won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the water polo competition. She is also a bronze medalist from the ...

(2007), and

Courtney Mathewson Courtney Lynn Kaiulani Mathewson (born September 14, 1986) is an American water polo player, part of the US team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She played water polo for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Brui ...

(2008). The award is given to the outstanding female and male collegiate water polo players each year. For the 2007–08 season, he captured the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year honor for the fifth time as UCLA's head women's water polo coach, given by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC). "Krikorian led the UCLA women's water polo program to its 11th national championship – the seventh national title in his 10-year tenure as head coach. UCLA registered its second undefeated season in the last four years, posting a 33-0 overall record and perfect 12-0 MPSF mark," according to the UCLA Athletic Department. In 2009, Krikorian Was named NCAA Division I Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC).

International

As the head coach of the USA Women's Water Polo Team, Krikorian coached his team to the gold medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Rome, Italy on July 31, 2009, defeating Canada, 6-5. In October 2011, Adam led the team to the gold medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, his

won the gold medal by defeating the Spain team 8–5 on August 9, 2012. Krikorian coached the USA women's water polo team to the first Olympic gold medal in program history by defeating Spain in the gold medal game in London, England on August 9, 2012. On August 19, 2016, Krikorian led the USA women's water polo team to their second straight gold medal as they defeated Italy by a score of 12-5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ever since breaking through for its first-ever gold in 2012, the Americans have dominated this sport, winning the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 World Championships and three consecutive World League titles in China.

National Champions

References

External links

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Profile – Adam Krikorian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krikorian, Adam 1974 births Living people American sportspeople of Armenian descent UCLA Bruins men's water polo players American male water polo players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics American water polo coaches American Olympic coaches United States women's national water polo team coaches Water polo coaches at the 2012 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2020 Summer Olympics Mountain View High School alumni