Alexander "Alex" Obert ( ; born December 18, 1991) was born in Loomis, CA and is an American

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player. He was a part of Team USA at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where the team finished in tenth place. Obert plays Center and is also currently listed as the captain of Team USA.

Early life

Alexander Obert was born in Placentia, California, on December 18, 1991. He is the son of David and Kristin Obert. Alex Obert grew up in Loomis, California and attended Del Oro High School, where he excelled in water polo,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

. In water polo, he joined the

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

as a sophomore and was a prep All-American as well as All- CIF First Team in the fall of 2009. He was also an All-American swimmer in both the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay.

College career

Obert attended Sierra College in

Rocklin, California Rocklin is a city in Placer County, California, United States, about from Sacramento, and about northeast of Roseville in the Sacramento metropolitan area. Besides Roseville, it shares borders with Granite Bay, Loomis and Lincoln. As of th ...

for one year and grey-shirted. Obert attended university at University of the Pacific, where he was a three-time All-American and the third Pacific Tiger to be named a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award. Obert finished his Pacific career tied for ninth on the all-time scoring list with 157 goals. He graduated from Pacific in 2016 with a degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. He was teammates with Balázs Erdélyi and Ben Stevenson.

2011 Freshman

In his first season at Pacific, Obert flashed tremendous potential in his role as a two-meter defender. Obert scored in the first three matches to start the season and played in all twenty-six matches. He finished his freshman year with eight goals, nine steals, three assists, thirteen drawn ejections, and four field blocks. He scored twice in the Tigers’ sudden death loss to

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

at the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...

Tournament.

2012 Sophomore

Obert moved to the center position in his sophomore year at Pacific with the ability to be one of the nations top two-meter players. His status was cemented as he earned Second Team All-America honors from the ACWC after racking up fifty-one goals on the season and averaging 2.32 scores per game, ranking ninth in the conference. Obert recorded fifteen multi-goal scoring games despite missing three matches due to injury. He scored a career-high five goals in the Tigers' overtime upset win over then-No. 4

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

at the Southern California Tournament. On October 5 against

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, he would tie his career-high. He led the Tigers in scoring with ten goals at the MPSF Tournament and was named All-MPSF Second Team.

2013 Junior

Obert earned Second Team All-America honors from the AWPCA after scoring forty-four goals in twenty-eight games, which ranked seventeenth in the MPSF. With Tomasevic and Obert both primary centers, Obert shuffled between a variety of different roles to allow both players to coexist in the pool simultaneously. He finished third on the squad in scoring, with 1.57 goals per game and posted scored a goal in all but four games. He tallied eleven multi-goal scoring games, including a season-high four goals against UC Davis. He scored two goals in the NCAA Semifinal win over Stanford, including the game-winner. He also earned MPSF All-Academic honors.

2014 Senior

Obert redshirted the 2014 campaign to be eligible for the 2015 season. From August 19–24, he participated with the US Men's National Team over the summer of 2014 at the FINA World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he scored six goals, helping the US to a fourth-place finish. From June 16–21, he also scored three goals for the US at the FINA World League Super Final in Dubai, UAE. He scored four goals, helping Team USA to gold at the 2014 FINA Intercontinental Tournament.

2015 Redshirt Senior

Named a Peter J. Cutino Award Finalist while earning ACWPC First Team All-American, First Team All-MPSF honors & MPSF All-Academic accolades. Obert set career-highs with fifty-four goals scored, forty-four drawn exclusions and thirty-one steals. He also added ten assists. He finished tenth in MPSF in scoring with 1.93 goals per game. Obert scored in 27 of 28 games with a career-high eighteen multi-goal scoring games. Scored a season-high four goals against Cal Baptist (Sept. 25) and added seven other hat tricks. Posted hat tricks against #2 California (Nov. 7), #7 UC Irvine in the MPSF Tournament (Nov. 20) and #3 California in the MPSF Tournament (Nov. 21). Earned MPSF All-Tournament Team honors with eight goals in three games.

Personal life

Obert's sister Isabelle played collegiate

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

. Obert married Michele Relton, who he met at Pacific while she was on the women's water polo team. The two were married on August 25, 2018, in Granite Bay, California.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obert, Alex Living people 1991 births American male water polo players University of the Pacific (United States) alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2015 Pan American Games Water polo players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in water polo Sportspeople from Placentia, California People from Loomis, California Water polo players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Sierra College alumni Pacific Tigers men's water polo players Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in water polo 21st-century American sportsmen