2025 Hall of Fame Class: Jeff Powers

During his time playing for UC Irvine water polo, Jeff Powers was a two-time All American (2000, 2002) and helped the Anteaters win a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship title in 2000. After he graduated, he went on to play in three Olympic games, won a silver medal in 2008, and played seven years professionally in Europe. He was named to the All-World Team in 2009 and was a member of the United States team that qualified for the 2013 FINA World Championship and was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2019. Now, Jeff will become the 20th men’s water polo player to be inducted into the UC Irvine Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Jeff started playing water polo in his freshman year of high school after the coach heard about his impressive swimming abilities and asked him to come try out for the team. 

“I loved the water, I was a swimmer my whole life,” Jeff said. “Water polo was all the things I liked; ball sports with swimming.” 

He made the team his freshman year and never looked back. When it came time to decide on a collegiate program to play for, Jeff had few solid options to choose from. He had been noticed by George Newland, the son of the late legendary UCI water polo coach Ted Newland. George happened to be on the same swim team as Jeff and told his dad that he should take a look at him, insisting that Powers would be great for UCI’s program. 

“I really liked all the things George said about the program and so once I met Coach Newland, I was sold,” Jeff recalled.  

Jeff has kept a good relationship with George ever since. He stays at George’s hotel when he goes back home, and they talk whenever they can.        

“He would pull me aside and we’d throw the water polo ball instead of doing swim practice,” Jeff remembered. “I’m sure that a lot of the guys would say we owe a lot to the Newland family, and that’s just an extension of it.”          

Coach Newland was notorious for being tough and putting his players through intense training in order to make them as successful as they were. 

“He put us through a lot, probably more than we thought we could do, but he knew what we could do, and it was that love he showed that hooked you,” Jeff said.        

Jeff remembers times where he could go over to Coach Newland’s house and talk with him for hours and not even mention water polo. He received a lot of advice from him that he still carries with him today and passes on to the people around him.

“It was always his saying that there’s no substitute for hard work and time spent, there’s no shortcuts,” Jeff said. “You work hard and put the time in, that’s how you become great.” 

Jeff was a two-time All American and won a MPSF championship at UCI, but some of his favorite memories revolve around the time spent with his teammates and his future wife. And while it wasn’t at UCI, there were at least four former ‘Eaters on the water polo team at every Olympic games Jeff competed in.      

“It was almost like we never left UCI,” Jeff said. “We were really close because we had that special bond.” 

They became so close that four out of five of Jeff’s groomsmen were UCI water polo players.     

Like any other kid, Jeff grew up with the dream of being an Olympian. It wasn’t until he came to UC Irvine that he realized it could become a reality. He began to get invited to senior national team practices and started talking to some older Anteaters that had been to the Olympics before. That’s when he realized he would love to compete at that level. It was a long, tough journey to make the team, but through his hard work and dedication, Jeff made it happen. 

“I got my butt kicked a little bit at the beginning, but I could hang with them,” Jeff said. “And through my development at UCI and with the national team, I was able to make it.”      

The highlight of Jeff’s Olympic experience was winning the semifinal game against Serbia in 2008, where he scored a late goal to help his team advance to the gold medal game.          

“Knowing that you’re going to get the opportunity to play for the ultimate goal of a gold medal was amazing,” Jeff said. “It felt like all of our hard work had paid off.”

In the moment, Jeff didn’t even realize the impact of his late goal in the semifinal game. He remembers being so focused on what he and his team were doing that the goal just seemed like business as usual. They were all so locked in to their own team, that they didn’t even notice that the other team had switched their goalie. The U.S team ultimately lost the gold medal game to Hungary. While Jeff is now extremely proud of his silver medal, which was the first medal for Team USA in 20 years, at the time it was a very bittersweet moment. 

“Now I look back and I am very proud of the accomplishment, but at the time, you win the silver by losing the game, so the loss was hard,” Jeff said. “You never know if you’re going to get another shot at it.” 

After his time at UC Irvine, when Jeff wasn’t competing in the Olympics, he played professionally in Europe for seven seasons. He competed one year in Greece, one in Hungary, and five in Italy. He got engaged then married while they were living in Europe, and he was able to play the sport that he loved while visiting amazing places and experiencing different cultures. He was able to make enough money to be able to support his Olympic dreams while getting a once in a lifetime experience. Besides the cultural differences, water polo players are often viewed as celebrities in some European countries. 

“When I lived in Hungary, people would come up and say hi to me,” Jeff recalled. “It’s ingrained into their lifestyle, so it’s a different kind of intensity when you play over there.” 

When Jeff retired from water polo in 2013, he went on to become a high school coach and teacher. He coached for 10 years but has recently taken a step back from coaching and is now a Dean of Discipline while continuing to teach. 

“I like working with young people and trying to help them towards their goals and hopefully see them succeed later on,” Jeff said. 

UC Irvine is still a big part of Jeff’s life, “UCI is definitely a big anchor for my family now, my kids have grown up wearing UCI stuff,” Jeff said. “This is where our family started, so it just means a lot to be back here.” 

Jeff and the entire Hall of Fame class of 2025 will be inducted at a ceremony on January 31st and celebrated the next day at the men's basketball game against UC Davis at the Bren Events Center.