Olympics / Team USA Local Olympic Spotlight: New Canaan, Connecticut Native Thomas Dunstan Part of Men’s Water Polo Team by Daniel Popoloski August 5, 2016 Thomas Dunstan (News 12 Connecticut) Thomas Dunstan, of New Canaan, Connecticut, will try to lead the United States back to the podium in men’s water polo, when he and the rest of the team head to Rio. Dunstan, 20, qualified for the team after starring as the attacker for Mater Dei Prep High School. While at the school, Mater Dei ended water polo powerhouse Harvard-Westlake’s 50 match win streak. He also is part of the Regency Water Polo Club. After being one of the most promising young players in the nation in water polo, he was then selected to join the U.S. national team. Last summer at the Pan-Am games, the United States won the gold medal, establishing themselves as one of the best teams on the western hemisphere. At the last world championships, the squad finished seventh, but in the FINA World League super final in China, they finished second. Being one of the top teams in the world, they qualified for the Rio Olympics. In the Olympics, the men’s draw in water polo is considered wide open. Traditional powers, such as Italy and Hungary aren’t as strong as they’ve always been in the past. However, with that considered, it will still be difficult for the US team to break through the clutter. It’s going to take career performances from the entire team to win, and earn the squad’s first medal since they earned a silver medal in Beijing in 2008. Thomas Dunstan will be behind any strong scoring performances for the United States as one of their best attackers. They open the tournament against defending Olympic gold medalist Croatia. Dunstan moved from Connecticut after starring on the New Canaan High School team, to California for the 2015 season to Mater Dei Prep High School in Santa Ana. He is now committed to the University of Southern California. He was offered a scholarship to defending national champion UCLA, but he decided to go with USC instead. Post Views: 1,968 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Daniel Popoloski Dan is a Staff Writer here at DoubleGSports.com with a focus on Team USA and the Rio Olympics Latest posts by Daniel Popoloski (see all) Team USA Proves it Can Win without Phelps, Lochte - July 30, 2017 Sydney McLaughlin becomes first Repeat Gatorade Athlete of Year - July 18, 2017 Local Swimmers Looking to Thrive at World Championships - July 18, 2017 Sydney McLaughlin Dominates New Jersey Meet of Champions - June 14, 2017 Related TopicsOlympicsRioRio OlympicsTeam USAThomas Dunstanwater polo Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Women in Sports: Podcast Host, New York Riptide Sideline Reporter, Dani Wexelman by Luke Porco | posted on March 3, 2020 From Paramus High School to CBS Sports, Spero Dedes is making waves in sports broadcasting by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on October 27, 2020 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 More in Olympics / Team USA Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics The 2021 Summer Olympic games are scheduled to take place from July 23 –... You Know I’m Right, Episode 94: Olympic Gold Medalist Lilly King (Audio/Video) On the 94th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst was joined by olympic... The Tokyo 2021 Olympics Will Feature New Amazing Sports Surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, karate, baseball and softball will compete at the Summer Olympics. You Know I’m Right, Episode 82: NBC’s Mary Carillo (Audio/Video) On the 82nd episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Local Olympic Spotlight: Anita Alvarez (Kenmore, NY) – Synchronized Swimming Local Olympic Spotlight: New Jersey’s Kelsi Worrell Hoping to Fly to Gold For Team USA