Anikó Pelle (born 28 September 1978 in Budapest, Hungary) is an international

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, 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 water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, who played for the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

from 1999 to 2002, and on the Hungarian National Team in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In 2000, Pelle received the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top women's collegiate water polo player. Aniko Pelle was USC's top offensive threat as a 1999 freshman, scoring a team-high 52 goals, leading to

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors. With a 3.44

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

, Pelle made the 1999 American Water Polo Coaches Association All-Academic team. After recording a team-leading 64 goals as a sophomore in 2000, she earned the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's top female water polo player. In her 2001 junior season, she was second on the team with 81 goals and again earned All-America honors. Pelle set a school record at USC as a 2002 senior with 254 career goals. Pelle graduated from USC with a degree in business. Pelle has played with the Hungarian National Team since 1995, with various club teams in Europe, and participated in several

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

World and European Championships. She has placed second twice and third three times at the Hungarian Championships, and was the top scorer in 1998. Pelle's 13 tournament goals, 3 in the final game, led her Hungarian National Team to the gold medal at the women's 2005 World Water Polo Championship in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada. Pelle was among the first of an increasing number of international players competing in U.S. collegiate women's water polo. Because of water polo's increased popularity globally, the influence of international coaches like USC's

Jovan Vavic Jovan Vavic (born ) is the former head coach of both the University of Southern California (USC) men's and women's water polo teams. In 2012, he was interim head coach of the United States men's national water polo team. While coaching USC he won ...

(of the former Yugoslavia) and Canadian Michel Roy at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and the perks of attending an American college, international players are attracted to the premier US colleges. She is friends with former U.S. Olympic team member and silver medalist, Bernice Orwig. She switched to representing Italy and competed for them at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 7th place.

References

External links

*
USC team bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelle, Aniko 1978 births Living people Hungarian female water polo players Italian female water polo players Olympic water polo players for Hungary Olympic water polo players for Italy Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo 21st-century Hungarian women 21st-century Italian women

See also

References

External links