He trusts his players, as they trust him. They’re all a battle.”Īfter this battle was all over, Tanner put his arms around a couple of players and took a victory leap into the Avery waters, along with the rest of the team. “To be able to do this with this group in front of our alums and the team’s fellow students makes it really special,” Tanner said.

It had to be near the top because it was in the Cardinal’s home pool. While the ending was rare for any water polo match, Tanner wouldn’t go as far to say this was his favorite of the five championships. The game was as good as it gets as far as excitement, played in front of a soldout Avery AC. Many of his former players were in attendance on Sunday, cheering on the Cardinal. “He, probably, knows every alumni at Stanford’s women’s water polo,” said Steffens of Tanner. And Tanner has the “it factor” with his former players, a huge plus. Not all great players make great coaches, but Tanner has more than proven himself. By the time he was a senior, he was an All-American, winning three NCAA titles during his stay at Stanford under Dante Dettamanti. John Tanner, recruited to swim at Stanford, chose to play water polo, instead. His father, Ted, was a member of Stanford’s 1952 Rose Bowl team, known as the “How Boys.” That establishes the trust you need when you are in the water.” We can go to him with all of our problems.

One of the greatest things he does is allow us to be ourselves and mature, in and out of the water. “We wouldn’t be the women we are today without him. “JT talks about our leadership, but it comes from him,” Steffens said. Tanner wasn’t the loudest screamer of all the coaches at Avery this past weekend, picking his spots, accordingly. If he hasn’t already, it is time for Tanner, a 1978 alum of Menlo-Atherton High, to get his due as a member of the pantheon of elite coaches at Stanford. He won his first NCAA title in 2002, the Cardinal appearing in the national championship game eight times during his tenure. From 2011 to 2014, Tanner’s Cardinal was a dominating 134-10. There is no doubting Tanner’s ability to reload. Two talented seniors, 2-meter Ashley Grossman and Neushul, were named first-team all-tournament and will be sorely missed. It will be tougher without junior All-American Maggie Steffens, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year and tourney MVP, who will take a year off to compete for the U.S.

That is a mini-dynasty, in the least, and there is nothing stopping the Cardinal from a three-peat next year. With the insane 7-6 victory, the Cardinal had won its fourth NCAA crown jewel in the past five years. Kiley Neushul’s penalty shot went lower-right shelf, skipping away from Bruins All-American goalie Sami Hill. The number was symbolic in that an unintentional gaffe by Bruins coach Brandon Brooks, who had blown the timeout horn without the Bruins having possession of the ball, was about to give Tanner his fifth national title. The infraction called for a 5-meter penalty shot for the Cardinal with the game knotted 6-6. It was the waning seconds of the NCAA championship at Avery Aquatic Center and Tanner was inferring to an infraction by UCLA with 11 seconds to play. Stanford women’s water polo coach John Tanner spread his right hand out Sunday evening, signifying the No.

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