Former Stanford men's water polo standout and two-time Olympian Peter Varellas '06 begins his secondd season as Volunteer Assistant Coach.
Varellas, a two-time All-American and 2002 national champion during his time on The Farm, has been a fixture on the U.S. Men's Senior National Team since 2006.
Varellas is a two-time Olympian, participating at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games. In Beijing, Varellas scored five goals and passed out seven assists in helping lead the U.S. to the silver medal, its first Olympic medal since 1988. This past summer in London, he scored 11 goals to tie for second on the team.
He has also helped lead the U.S. to Pan-American Games gold in 2007 and 2011, the 2008 FINA World League Super Finals silver medal and being part of the FINA World Championship U.S. teams in 2007 and 2009.
Varellas helped lead the Cardinal to the NCAA championship game in each of his four seasons on The Farm (2002-05), winning the national title in 2002. The Moraga, Calif. native scored 168 goals in his career, with a high of 62 in 2005. Varellas was twice named All-America by the American Water Polo Coaches Association, making the second team in 2004 and the first team as a senior in 2005.
In his senior year, Varellas was honored as the 2005-06 Stanford Most Outstanding Male Senior Award Recipient as well as the Pac-10 Stanford Male Athlete of the Year. He was also chosen as a recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Professionally, Varellas played with Rari Nantes Savona in Italy from 2006-10. He helped lead the club to runner-up finishes in the Italian League and the LEN Cup in 2009-10.
Varellas graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a degree in Management Science & Engineering.