Local Olympic Spotlight: New Canaan, Connecticut Native Thomas Dunstan Part of Men’s Water Polo Team

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.