Assistant Water Polo Coach Dante Dettamanti, 80, Dies in Bike Accident

by SONIA DHOLAKIA

Menlo boys’ Assistant Water Polo Coach and former Stanford University Head Coach Coach Dante Dettamanti died on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 80-years-old in a bicycle crash. Dettamanti collided with a parked street sweeper on Cañada Road and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Redwood City California Highway Patrol.

A member of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Dettamanti led Stanford to eight national championships in his 25 years of coaching at the university from 1977–2001. He was named NCAA Coach of the Year six times during his tenure.

“[Dettamanti] is just a monumental figure in the world of water polo,” Menlo Head Water Polo Coach Jack Bowen said. Bowen played under Dettamanti at Stanford from 1991–1995, during which time the team won two national championships. According to Bowen, this success was due to the culture Dettamanti cultivated. “He made the experience of being on that team both overtly rigorous, but also at base really playful, and I feel like I really lucked out,” Bowen said. Dettamanti raced against his players in swimming and would engage in harmless pranks with the team.

After he graduated from Stanford, Bowen remained connected to Dettamanti through their shared involvement in the water polo community. “We just had a lot of great run-ins and sort of a general staying in touch,” Bowen said. Dettamanti expressed an interest in joining the Menlo team as a coach, and, in 2019, he became an assistant coach. “I think [Dettamanti] might be the most overqualified coach in the history of sports, not just water polo,” Bowen said. “You’ve got one of the best to ever coach the sport at the highest level and you’ve got him working with 16-year-olds in this tiny little seven-team league as an assistant.”

Dettamanti’s credentials were not lost on his Menlo players. “Everyone [at] every game introduced themselves to him, they all knew him, and it was just crazy how important of a figure he was in the water polo community,” senior Tommy Kiesling said.

According to senior Ethan Babel, the players learned a lot from Dettamanti’s expertise. “[Dettamanti] definitely helped you understand [water polo] more IQ wise because of how much he knew and how much he had seen,” Babel said. “We really tried to absorb what he was giving us.”

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dettamanti scaled back his role on the team due to health concerns. He became a consultant instead of an assistant coach, yet still attended almost every home game and watched film to strategize with Bowen. “He lived and breathed water polo,” Kiesling said.

Dettamanti passed away two days before the start of the West Catholic Athletic League tournament. “[Dettamanti’s death] came out of nowhere,” Kiesling said. “I think it brought down the team energy a lot.” During the semifinal round of the tournament against Bellarmine on Thursday, Oct. 27, Menlo lost 15-6. “Thursday night’s game was really tough. I was just not in a good headspace,” Bowen said.

In addition to Dettamanti’s passing, many players on the team were sick and unable to play, another contributing factor to the team’s multiple losses in about a week. “It was one of the tougher 10-day streaks I’ve had as a coach,” Bowen said. However, both Bowen and the players agree that Dettamanti’s legacy lives on through the team’s practice environment. While it is common for water polo teams to swim long distances at practice, Dettamanti believed that, for water polo, it was ideal to practice swimming for short amounts of time. “The only swimming we usually do [at practice] are sprints because of him, he thinks that’s the best way to swim for water polo, as opposed to just grinding it out,” Babel said.

In addition to the practice drills, Bowen tries to implement the “playfulness” Dettamanti emphasized. “You shouldn’t be a 16-year-old and dead serious for two hours straight every practice,” Bowen said.

While his accomplishments were substantial, Kiesling remembers Dettamanti for his attitude. “He was a great guy and just a great coach,” Kiesling said.