Brian Alexander (born May 3, 1983) is a former American

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 who was a member of the

United States men's national water polo team The United States men's national water polo team is the representative for the United States of America in international men's water polo. The team is the only non-European squad to win medals in the men's Olympic water polo tournament, most re ...

Playing career

Youth and collegiate

Alexander competed with Foothill High School, where he was named to the All-

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

Division I boys water polo team after scoring 91 goals in his senior year. Alexander played collegiate water polo at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. He was named a 3rd team All-American in 2003 and 2004 while playing with the

Gauchos A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

Professional

Alexander started his professional career in Spain in 2005 with Spain's Aguas De Valencia. He stayed with the club until 2007 before joining Greek side

NO Patras NO Patras (NOP), (Greek language, Greek: Ναυταθλητικός Όμιλος Πατρών = Nautical Club of Patras), is a water polo club participating in the First Division of the Greek Championship (A1 Greek water polo, A1 Ethniki). Hist ...

in 2008 and stayed until 2009. 2010 saw Alexander move to Australian National Water Polo League club Victorian Tigers and was named to the 2010 All Star team en route to winning the 2010 NWPL Championship. He remained with the club through the 2011 season. While competing overseas, Alexander has been with San Francisco, California-based Olympic Club as early as 2009.

International

Junior teams

Alexander represented the United States on the Junior National Team from 2002 to 2003. Alexander, with a number of other Juniors players, was named to the United States "B" team in May 2003 for play in the 2003 US Cup, held at Stanford Cardinal's Avery Aquatic Center. The US Cup served as a final tune-up for the 2003

FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships is an international water polo tournament held every two years for the players under the age of 20. It was launched by FINA in 1981 for men and in 1995 for women .United States men's national water polo team The United States men's national water polo team is the representative for the United States of America in international men's water polo. The team is the only non-European squad to win medals in the men's Olympic water polo tournament, most re ...

in 2005, appearing in the 2005 ASUA World Championships as well as the 2005 FINA World Championships. He continued with the team and played in the 2007 FINA World Championships and

2008 FINA Men's Water Polo World League The 2008 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the seventh edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After five preliminary rounds the ''Super Final'' was held in Genoa, Italy from June 16 to Jun ...

in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in London, but was one of the last cut players and ultimately was named as an alternate. Alexander persevered, setting his sights on the 2012 Summer Olympics. He participated with the senior national team in a number of major competitions including:

2009 FINA Men's Water Polo World League The 2009 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the eighth edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After a preliminary round organized by continent, the Super Final was held in Podgorica, Monte ...

2010 FINA Men's Water Polo World League The 2010 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the ninth edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After a preliminary round organized by continent, the Super Final was held in Niš, Serbia from ...

2011 FINA Men's Water Polo World League The 2011 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the tenth edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After a preliminary round, the Super Final was held in Firenze, Italy from June 21–26, 2011.

2009 FINA World Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

, 2011 FINA World Championships,

2010 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup The 14th edition of the Men's FINA Water Polo World Cup was held in Oradea, Romania from July 27 to August 1, 2010. Format 8 teams qualified for the 2010 FINA World Cup. They were split into two groups of 4 teams. After playing a Round-robin ev ...

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, ...

, and the 2012 Pan Pacific Water Polo Championships. Despite being a regular on the national team and participating in qualifying for the

2012 FINA Men's Water Polo World League The 2012 FINA Men's Water Polo Chinese League is played between November 2011 and June 2012 and open to all men's water polo Chinese teams. After playing in groups within the same continent, eight teams qualify to play in a final tournament, calle ...

, Alexander missed out on being named to the Super Final roster. It was a sign of things to come as shortly thereafter he was not named to the 2012 Olympic team and did not appear in any further major competitions for the team.

References

External links

UC Santa Barbara coaching profile

Team USA player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Brian 1983 births Living people American male water polo players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's water polo players Water polo players at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in water polo Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games