Former UCSB men’s water polo player Brian Alexander has been named to Team USA’s 14-man roster for the 2009 FINA World Championships it was announced by USA Water Polo Men’s Senior National Team head coach Terry Schroeder on Wednesday. The championships are scheduled to begin July 20 in Rome, Italy.
Alexander – an alternate for the 2008 Olympic team – will play with 11 Olympians including 10 members of the silver medal winning squad from last summer’s Beijing Olympics.
The team is coming off of a fourth-place finish at the 2009 FINA World League Super Finals in Podgorica, Montenegro. Team USA will open play against host, Italy, on July 20 and will also meet Macedonia and Romania in preliminary group play.
Alexander played for UCSB from 2001-04 and was a two-time All-American with the Gauchos.
The FINA World Championships runs through Aug. 2 and features five major water sports – swimming, open-water swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.
Coverage of the FINA World Championships will be broadcast on Universal and NBC on July 26, 28, 30 and Aug. 1. UC Santa Barbara head water polo coach Wolf Wigo will serve as the color commentator for the broadcast.
Wigo has previously provided commentary for the FINA World League Super Final last month and was also the color commentator last summer during NBC’s water polo coverage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
