Chay Thomas Lapin (born February 25, 1987) 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 ...

goalkeeper. While playing at the

University of California, Los Angeles 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 ...

, he set the school's all-time saves record. He also played for the United States national team 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 ...

Career

High school

Lapin played water polo at Long Beach Wilson High School from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he was named to the California-Hawaii All-America first team and was also named the CIF player of the year."Chay Lapin"
. usawaterpolo.org. Retrieved August 23, 2012.

College

Lapin then went to UCLA, where he redshirted the 2005 season. In 2006, he started 15 games at goalkeeper and had a 4.87 goals against average. The following year, he started 21 games, had a 6.90 goals against average, and was named to the ACWPC All-America third team.
. uclabruins.com. Retrieved August 23, 2012. Lapin started 23 games in 2008. He had 206 saves and a 6.35 goals against average. In 2009, he started 24 games, made 205 saves, and had a 4.82 goals against average. His performance helped UCLA win the MPSF Tournament and reach the finals of the NCAA Championship that year. Lapin was named to the ACWPC All-America second team. He finished his college career with 719 total saves, which set a school record.

International

Lapin was a backup goalkeeper for the U.S. national team at the 2011 and 2012 FINA World League Super Finals. Both times, the U.S. finished in fourth place. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he made eight saves, and the U.S. was eighth.

Personal

Lapin was born in

Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. Europea ...

, on February 25, 1987. He is 6 feet, 6 and a half inches tall. He resides in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

. Recently, Lapin married the love of his life, model Kim Nelson. Lapin is one of four children and dearly loves his two younger brothers, Taylor (born 1989, also a water polo player), and Blayke (born 1999, a baseball player), and his only sister, Jayden Raye (born 1996, a singer/songwriter who plays guitar).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapin, Chay 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from California People from Fountain Valley, California American male water polo players Water polo goalkeepers Olympic water polo players of the United States Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in water polo Water polo players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games UCLA Bruins men's water polo players