STANFORD, Calif. – Jessica Steffens, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and two-time, first-team All-American at Stanford, and Dunlevie Family Director of Women's Water Polo John Tanner will be part of USA Water Polo's 2019 Hall of Fame Class inducted on Friday, June 7 at ceremonies in Pleasanton, Calif.
Steffens and Tanner are two of seven members who will go into USA Water Polo's Hall of Fame as part of its 35th induction class. They are joined by Betsey Armstrong, Lauren Wenger, Ryan Bailey, Jeff Powers and Adam Wright. The seven will be recognized June 7 at the 2019 USA Water Polo Hall of Fame Luncheon at the DoubleTree Hilton Pleasanton in Pleasanton. The event will help kick off the 2019 Masters National Championship at area pools in the Tri-Valley area.
Tickets are on sale now for the luncheon with individual and full table tickets available by clicking here.
A 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Steffens was a 2010 Peter J. Cutino Award finalist, a first-team All-American for the Cardinal in 2009 and 2010 and a three-time academic All-American. She scored 79 career collegiate goals and led Stanford to a 103-15 record during her career from 2006-10, which included a year away from The Farm training with the Women's Senior National Team in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Steffens cracked the Women's Senior National Team roster as a teenager and in 2007 she helped them qualify for the Olympic Games in Brazil, only to find herself halfway around the world a week later with the Junior National Team in Portugal. In 2008 she solidified her spot on the Senior National Team and pushed the squad to Olympic silver with a breakout performance that landed her on the media all-star team.
She navigated Team USA through pressure-packed qualification at the 2011 Pan American Games and at the 2012 Olympics Steffens, considered one of the best defenders in the world, played an important role in lifting Team USA to its first Olympic gold in program history.
In his 22nd season at Stanford, John Tanner took the reins of the developing women's water polo program in 1998 and has turned it into a powerhouse that has produced six NCAA Championships (2002, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).
Under Tanner's watch, Stanford is the school to have competed at all 18 NCAA Championships since its inception in 2001, and has finished in the top-three nationally each season since he came on board. A five-time national coach of the year who holds a 538-78 (.873) career record at Stanford, Tanner has tutored nine ACWPC Players of the Year, seven Peter J. Cutino award winners, 112 ACWPC All-America selections and student-athletes that have earned a total of 198 ACWPC All-Academic selections.
A former Stanford water polo All-American himself, Tanner returned to his alma mater with a fortune of knowledge gained from years of coaching, both at the collegiate and international levels. Tanner has been involved with United States Water Polo in various capacities from 1988 to the present. Most recently, Tanner and the Cardinal represented the United States at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea.
He was the assistant coach of the U.S. Men's National Team that placed sixth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He garnered the second World Championship of his career in 1997 as the Americans captured the World Cup in Athens, Greece.
Tanner began his international coaching career in 1988 as a scout coach for the U.S. National "A" Team. In December of 1998, he was appointed as head coach of the U.S. National "B" Team, a position he held until early 1991. In March of 1991, he was named the assistant coach of the U.S. Olympic Team. He helped the U.S. squad capture gold at the 1991 World Cup and a fourth-place finish at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
In 1980, while a student-athlete at Stanford, Tanner became involved with coaching when he served as the head coach at Menlo-Atherton High School for one season. He then coached Menlo School for the 1983 season. In 1984, he served as an assistant coach for the Stanford men's water polo team under his former coach Dante Dettamanti, when the team advanced to the NCAA title match and finished the year with a 25-5 mark.
Following the 1984 season, Tanner was hired as the head coach of the men's water polo team at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. In 1988, he was named the school's Director of Aquatics and the head coach of the men's swimming program, holding all three titles until his appointment at Stanford.
As the men's swimming coach at Pacific, he led the Tigers to a top-20 finish at the NCAA Tournament and coached Brad Schumacher, Pacific's first and only Olympic gold medalist in any sport. Tanner served as Schumacher's coach at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he earned two gold medals as a member of the U.S. 4x100-meter and 4x200-meter free relay teams.
Originally recruited from Menlo-Atherton High School to swim at Stanford, Tanner instead played on the water polo team his freshman year, beginning a career (1978-82) that spanned three national championships and culminated in All-America honors his senior year. Tanner, a left-handed driver, started for the Cardinal in 1981 and helped lead Stanford to a perfect 31-0 record and its fourth national crown. The undefeated season was only the second in NCAA water polo history. Tanner ranked sixth on the team in goals in 1981, with 27, and was named All-America honorable mention.
In 1982, he finished his career with a 48-goal performance, tying for second on the squad, and helped lead the Cardinal to a 27-5 record and its third-straight NCAA championship match appearance. Tanner was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team, and, for his efforts throughout the season, earned All-America honors.