The U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team announced today that its 13-player roster includes a winning lineup of players from both Orange and Los Angeles Counties, including attacker Tony Azevedo of Long Beach, to be the first five-time Olympian in U.S. water polo history.

The 34-year-old has been a member of each U.S. men’s Olympic water polo team since 2000, including in 2008 when the team earned a silver medal. Azevedo was also the leading scorer for the US in both 2004 and 2008.

The Long Beach local will be returning to his place of birth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this year. He and his family moved from Rio to California when he was just one month old. Azevedo is a 2001 Wilson High School graduate and received his International Relations degree from Stanford.

The US is currently ranked sixth in the world, according to FINA, the international governing body of aquatics, and finished second in the FINA World League Super Final in June.

“We’re the only team in the world that’s trained nonstop for eight months,” said Azevedo in a statement. “We’ve gotten better every month. I think we’re going to be a team that everyone’s afraid of. In Rio, we’re going to be one of the best teams in the world.”

Image courtesy of Tony Azevedo from the 2016 San Diego Team Naming. 

City News Service contributed to this report.