Coralie Denise Simmons (born March 1, 1977) 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, who won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. In 2001, she won the

Peter J. Cutino Award The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo. It is given annually to the top male and female pl ...

, presented annually to the top American collegiate water polo player. Simmons is currently in her third season as the women's water polo coach at the

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 ...

, after nine seasons as the head coach at

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...

. She was born in

Hemet, California Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California, United States. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto, California, San Jacinto. The population w ...

. Simmons joined other

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

Natalie Golda Natalie Golda (now Benson, born December 28, 1981) is a former American water polo player and currently the head coach of the newly formed Fresno State Bulldogs water polo team to begin competition in 2018. Considered one of the greatest women's ...

(2005),

Kelly Rulon Kelly Kristen Rulon (born August 16, 1984) is an American water polo player. She won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament, water polo competition. She ...

(2007), and

Courtney Mathewson Courtney Lynn Kaiulani Mathewson (born September 14, 1986) is an American water polo player, part of the US team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics. She played water polo for the University of California, ...

(2008), as the school's four woman

winners, all coached by

Adam Krikorian Adam Krikorian (born July 22, 1974) is an American water polo coach and the head coach of the United States women's national water polo team. He coached the team to gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympic Games, 2016 Summer Olympics ...

. She was also named as an assistant coach to the USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team for the

2009 FINA World Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994. The 20 ...

National

At Hemet High School, Simmons was girls' water polo team captain and Outstanding Defensive Player for her senior year in 1994. She also lettered four years in varsity swimming, received four-time team MVP and two-time league champions. In 1995, Simmons set a

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

(CIF) record in 100

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

and 100

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

, and was recognized as CIF Outstanding Female Swimmer. Coralie Simmons played three years in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

under coach and mother Debbie Simmons. Coralie Simmons was a two-time National Player of the Year at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. In her final season with the

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

in 2001, UCLA captured its fourth national title in the inaugural NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship. Simmons scored with just 1:28 remaining in the final period to give the Bruins a 5-4 win, and was named the tournament

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. She owns three of UCLA’s four offensive records in women's water polo, including career and season goals. In June 2001, Simmons graduated from UCLA with a degree in

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

environmental studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

. She was voted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

in 2012.UCLA Athletics Announces 2012 Hall of Fame Class
, UCLABruins.com, May 4, 2012 ;UCLA Career Scoring (*school record)

Olympics and international

While still in high school, Simmons was chosen to join the U.S. Senior National team. She

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the 1999 and 2000 seasons at UCLA to play on the U.S. Women's National Team, helping the team qualify for the Olympic Games in the qualification tournament in Sicily by scoring a team-leading eight goals. The US women won silver medals at both the Pan-American Games in 1999 and then the Olympics in Sydney in 2000, where Simmons tied for the team lead in scoring with nine goals. In 2001, she took home silver at the 2001 FINA World Water Polo Cup and led the team in scoring. From 2001–2005, Simmons played for two different professional water polo teams in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Her squads won three Greek Championships and one European Cup. In 2005, Coralie Simmons began her first year as an assistant coach on the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

water polo staff.

References

External links

*
UCLA Team bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Coralie 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Hemet, California Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in water polo American water polo coaches UCLA Bruins women's water polo players Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in water polo Water polo players at the 1999 Pan American Games American female water polo players Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics American female sports coaches 20th-century American sportswomen

National

Olympics and international

See also

References

External links