Five-time Olympian Salvador Gomez Aguera has hit the ground running since arriving in Auckland at the end of February.

The Spanish gold and silver Olympic medalist has begun working with our senior men and women’s squads as they work towards defending their National League title in June. His commitment to the senior men is already paying off with large numbers of players attending the training sessions.

“Chava” as he’s known is also working with our age group clinics as well as overseeing our Sunday morning clinics. 

It’s rare to welcome an athlete/coach of his standing to a club water polo side, says North Harbour programme manager Sharon Geary.  “We want as many of our players as possible to benefit from his vast experience as well as many of our younger coaches learning new skills that will increase the calibre of coaching within the club.

Chava played for the Spanish side for 20 years – and has been coaching since his playing days ended.  He’s just finished a short stint in Japan – after coaching in Spain and the Canary Islands for much of the past decade.

Here is his Olympic record with the Spanish National side.

1988 Seoul – 6^th place

1992 Barcelona – Silver Medal

1996 Atlanta – Gold Medal

2000 Sydney – 4^th place

2004 Athens – 6^th place

Chava made his debut for the national side at the 1987 European Championships in Strasbourg. With the Spanish national team he also won the world title twice, in Perth 1998 and Fukuoka 2001.

It has been wonderful listening to the comments from some of our top club coaches about Chava’s techniques and style of coaching. He has made an impact already and is keen to help pass on his skills to our club coaches.

Look out for him poolside.