UCLA COACHING HISTORY
UCLA Head Coaching History
UCLA’S FORMER HEAD COACHES
Guy Baker (1995-98)
Guy Baker
Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 Totals
Guy Baker led the UCLA men’s and women’s water polo programs to seven national titles in a 10-year span. He left the water polo programs in January 2001 to become head coach of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team, a position he held through the spring of 2009. Baker established UCLA as the dominant men's program of the 1990s with four men's NCAA championships (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000) and three national collegiate women’s titles (1996, 1997, 1998). He earned National Coach of the Year honors four times (1995-96 men, 1997-98 women) and coached the Women’s National Team at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Totals
Three of his athletes were each named National Player of the Year twice – Coralie Simmons, Sean Kern, and Matt Swanson. In all, Bruin athletes secured All-America honors 52 times and eight players competed in the Olympics under Baker.
Adam Krikorian Adam Krikorian served as head coach of the men’s water polo team from 1999-2008 and as head coach of the women’s program from 1999-2009. Krikorian now serves as the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team. He guided Team USA to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s water polo in 2012 in London and followed that with another gold in 2016 in Rio.
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Totals
Between the two UCLA water polo programs, Krikorian coached six Peter J. Cutino Award recipients, seven National Player of the Year selections and 12 Olympians. He led the UCLA men’s and women’s teams to national championships in the same academic year on three occasions (1999-00, 2000-01 and 2004-05).
Year 2018 2019 2020 Totals
Krikorian was a four-year water polo letterwinner at UCLA (1992-95), helping lead the men’s program to the 1995 NCAA Championship at the conclusion of his senior season (the program’s first national title since 1972).
Record 24-10 30-5 18-4 22-4 23-4 22-5 33-0 29-4 28-2 33-0 25-6 287-44
NCAA Finish — 1st 1st 2nd 1st — 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
MPSF Record 6-3 8-1 9-1 10-1 8-2 9-2 12-0 11-1 11-1 12-0 5-2 101-14
MPSF Finish 3rd 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd
Record 22-8 26-7 23-4 28-7 27-5 26-3 26-5 24-2 202-41
NCAA Finish 5th 3rd 3rd — 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd
MPSF Record 4-3 4-3 5-2 3-3 5-1 5-1 5-1 6-0 37-14
MPSF Finish 3rd 3rd 2nd 4th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st
Record 23-8 24-7 19-2 66-17
NCAA Finish T-3rd T-3rd n/a
MPSF Record 2-3 4-2 2-0 8-5
MPSF Finish 3rd 3rd n/a
All-Time Assistant Coaches Matt Armato Sam Bailey Brandon Brooks Molly Cahill Matt Flesher Sam Grayeli Kodi Hill Kelly Heuchan
Brandon Brooks Brandon Brooks served as head coach of the women's water polo team from 2010-2017. During his head coaching tenure, Brooks led UCLA to four MPSF Championships and three runner-up finishes at the NCAA Championships. He compiled an overall coaching record of 202-41 and was named the 2012, 2015 and 2017 MPSF Coach of the Year. As an assistant coach for both the UCLA men’s and women’s teams from 2006-09, Brooks helped lead the Bruin women to three NCAA Championships. He also served as the undergraduate assistant coach when the men’s team won the 2004 NCAA title. As a student-athlete at UCLA, Brooks was a four-time All-American goalkeeper and led the Bruins to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1999 and 2000. He also excelled internationally with the USA Men’s National Team as a two-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic silver medal winner.
UCLA Women’s Water Polo Coaching Legacy Overall 108-14 287-44 202-41 66-17 663-116
MPSF Finish — 2nd 1st 1st
Adam Wright (2018-Present)
Krikorian assumed head coaching duties of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team following the 2009 collegiate spring season and helped guide Team USA to the gold medal at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.
League 22-0 101-14 37-14 8-5 168-33
MPSF Record — 7-0 6-0 9-0 22-0
Brandon Brooks (2010-17)
As head coach of both UCLA water polo programs, he helped lead the Bruins to 11 national championships (three men’s, eight women’s). He coached the men’s water polo team to NCAA titles in 1999, 2000 and 2004. As head coach of the women’s program, Krikorian guided UCLA to the 2000 National Collegiate Championship and NCAA titles in 2001 and 2003 before reeling off five consecutive NCAA championships (2005-09).
Years 1995-1998 1999-2009 2010-2017 2018-Present 1963-2019
NCAA Finish — 1st 1st 1st
Adam Krikorian (1999-2009)
Baker led the 2006-07 Women's National Team to gold medals at the 2007 World Championships, the 2007 World League Super Final and the 2007 Pan-American Games, where the team secured its qualifying spot for the 2008 Olympic games. Baker’s combined record at UCLA was 265-97 overall and 64-28 in league games.
Coach Guy Baker Adam Krikorian Brandon Brooks Adam Wright Totals
Record 13-11 29-1 31-1 35-1 108-14
NCAA Titles 3 8 11 23
2000 2008 2007-09 2010-17 2007-09 1999 2018-19 2003
Adam Krikorian 1997, 1998 Christopher Lee 2019-present Nicolle Payne 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 James Robinson 2020-present Coralie Simmons 2007 Leslie Storey 1995, 1996 Catharine von Schwarz 2004 Adam Wright 2009