Jan. 24, 2013

U.S. Senior National Team roster and UANA World Aquatic Championship Qualification Tournament schedule

STANFORD, Calif. - Current Stanford men's water polo standouts Alex Bowen and Bret Bonanni, along with Cardinal alumnus Jeffrey Schwimer '11 were named to the U.S. Senior National Team roster Thursday ahead of the UANA World Aquatic Championship Qualification Tournament.

The tournament will mark the Senior National Team debut for each Cardinal player. All had spent time with the various youth national teams in the past. Bowen and Bonanni also account for two of the three current collegians on the U.S. roster, being joined by USC's Nikola Vavic.

The tournament, set for Jan. 30-Feb. 3 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina will compete for two spots at July's FINA World Aquatic Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

The U.S. will play each of its three opponents over the first three days of the draw. The four teams will then be seeded based on record in the four-team knockout rounds over Feb. 2 and 3.

Bowen and Bonanni, Stanford's top two goal scorers in 2012, combined to net 137 goals over the campaign. Bonanni led the team with 73, the highest output by a Cardinal player since Tony Azevedo score 80 goals in 2004. The Huntington Beach native's strong debut season led to his being named MPSF Newcomer of the Year as well as to the All-MPSF First Team. The two-time KAP 7 MPSF Player of the Week recorded a nine-goal game Oct. 21 against Air Force as well as an eight-goal performance against UC Irvine on Oct. 27.

Bowen followed up his 2011 MPSF Newcomer of the Year campaign with 64 goals in his sophomore season this past fall, also earning a place on the All-MPSF First Team. The San Diego native scored a team-high 11 goals at the MPSF Championship in Los Angeles, while sharing the team lead of 12 hat tricks with Bonanni. He twice scored six goals in a game in 2012, both of those performances coming against Long Beach State.

Schwimer was a two-time All-American for the Cardinal (2009-10) during his four-year career on The Farm (2007-10). The crowd-favorite utility from Beverly Hills scored 84 goals during his collegiate career, maxing out with 33 in his senior campaign of 2010 in which he was named to the ACWPC All-America Second Team and All-MPSF First Team. In 2008 Schwimer scored 18 goals, including the game-winner in Stanford's 6-5 National Collegiate Championship semifinal win over Loyola Marymount, as the Cardinal reached the National Championship Game.

He was also one of five Cardinal players on the U.S. World University Games Team that took fourth in Shenzhen, China in August 2011, scoring a goal and being one of the top U.S. defenders in the tournament.