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Chris Humbert

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Humbert
Personal information
Full nameChristopher A. Humbert
BornDecember 27, 1969 (1969-12-27) (age 56)
Modesto, California, U.S.
Height200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight102 kg (225 lb)
SpouseAnnita Nathanail (m. 2001)
Sport
Country United States
SportWater polo
PositionCenter Forward (WP)
College teamUniversity of California Berkeley
Coached bySteve Heaston (UC Berkeley)
Bill Barnett (1992 Olympics)
Richard Corso (1996 Olympics)
John Vargas (2000 Olympics)
Medal record
Men's water polo
Representing the  United States
FINA World Cup
Gold medal – first place1991 BarcelonaTeam
Gold medal – first place1997 AthensTeam
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place1995 Mar del PlataTeam
Silver medal – second place1991 HavanaTeam

Christopher A. Humbert (born December 27, 1969, in Modesto, California) is a former water polo center forward from the United States, who competed for the University of California Berkeley, and participated with the US water polo team at three Summer Olympics (1992, 1996 and 2000).[1][2][3]

Humbert was born December 27, 1969, in Modesto, California. He attended Lodi High School where he played both basketball and varsity water polo. After tranferring as an upperclassman, he played water polo and swam competitively for Tokay High School under Coach Courtney Porter graduating in 1988.[4][5]

University of California Berkeley

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Enrolling in 1988, Humbert played collegiate water polo for the University of California Berkeley on scholarship under head varsity water polo coach Steve Heaston, where he graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in History.[5][6][7][8] While at Cal, Humbert received All-America honors in four successive years, and was highly instrumental in leading the team to NCAA national championships in 1988, 1990 and 1991. As a both a Junior and Senior, he was a player of the year for the NCAA. As a strong and fast left-handed player, Humbert assumed the role of 2-meter center, and became a frequent scorer for the team.[9]

Despite his youth, Humbert was the US National team's top scorer at both the 1990 Goodwill Games and the French International Championship in 1991.[4]

1992 Barcelona Olympics

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Humbert participated with the U.S. men's water polo team in the August, 1992 Barcelona Olympics under Head Coach Bill Barnett, a former player for Long Beach State, where the U.S. team placed fourth, with Italy taking the gold, Spain taking the silver, and the Unified team taking the bronze. At 22, Humbert was the youngest member of the team.[4][10][11]

1996 Atlanta Olympics

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Barnhart participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, under Olympic water polo Head Coach Richard Corso, for the American team that placed seventh overall in competition. Other former U. Cal Berkeley water polo players on the team included Gavin Arroyo, and Chris Oeding.[12] The team from Spain took the gold medal, Croatia took the silver, and Italy took the bronze.[10][13]

2000 Sydney Olympics

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Humbert participated with the US Men's Olympic water polo team for the third time at the 2000 Sydney Olympics under Olympic Coach John Vargas. He was part of the US team that completed the Olympics with an overall sixth-place finish among twelve competing countries. In preliminary rounds, the US team defeated the Netherlands and Croatia, both traditionally strong teams, but lost their last match in the final round 10–8 to Italy. Humbert scored four crucial goals in the U.S. 12-8 win over the team from the Netherlands.[14] He scored two goals in the game in the close 10-7 opening round loss to the team from Croatia.[15]

Perennial pre-game favorite Hungary took the gold medal, Russia took the silver, and the historically dominant team from Yugoslavia took the bronze, having had more total goals than the United States. Hungary easily defeated rival Russia in the final game by a score of 13-6, leading in each of the first three periods by a score of 3-1, 8-2, and 10-4 respectively.[10][16]

In 2001, while playing Greek professional water polo, Humbert married Annita Nathanail, a Greek actress. The couple had two daughters by 2008.[5]

International competition

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Humbert competed with the U.S. National team from 1989-2000.[10], and was on the United States national team squads that won the gold medal in the 1991 FINA World Cup in Barcelona and the gold medal in the 1997 FINA World Cup in Athens.[17] He was part of the US National team that won a silver medal at the Pan American games in 1991 in La Habana, Cuba. He won a Pan American gold medal in 1995 at Mar del Plata, near Buenos Aires, Argentina and a second Pan American gold medal at the Pan American games in 1999 in Winnipeg, Ontario, Canada.[10]

Professional play

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In professional water polo, he played overseas in Italy and Greece. From 1992 to 1994 he played for Italian giant Posillipo, with whom he won 2 Italian Championships. In 1999–2000, he helped Ethnikos Piraeus win the Greek Cup. In the 2002–03 season, he played for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, with whom he won the LEN Super Cup,[18] the Greek Championship and the Greek Cup.

Humbert did some work as an actor, appearing a few times as an extra on the television program Baywatch.[10]

Honors

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In 2018, he was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, and in 2001 had been formerly inducted into the University of California Athletics Hall of Fame.[9][19][20]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Chris Humbert". olympic.org. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "1992: The US Olympic Team". waterpololegends.com. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Chris Humbert". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Crumpacker, John, "Trying to Change Silver to Gold", San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, June 7, 1992, pg. 31". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Flynn, Natalie, Chris Humbert reminisces about his time on the Olympic water polo team", August 15, 2008". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  6. ↑ "University of California Sports, Steve Heaston, Bio". Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Collegiate Water Polo Association, 1993, Men's Varsity All America, Player of the Year, Troy Barnhart" (PDF). Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  8. ↑ "USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Chris Humbert". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  9. 1 2 "University of California Berkeley, Califoria Athletics Hall of Fame, Chris Humbert". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Olympedia Biography, Chris Humbert". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  11. ↑ "USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, Bill Barnett". Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  12. ↑ ""Sports Digest, Swimming Bans Foschi, Cal, Stanford Players Top Olympic Roster", San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, June 25, 1996, pg. 31". Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Richard Corso, USA Water Polo Hall of Fame". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ ""US Survives Again In 11, Water Polo", The Modesto Bee, Modesto, California, September 25, 2000, pg. 26". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ ""US Golden on Swimming's Last Day", The Modesto Bee, September 23, 2000, pg. 26". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  16. ↑ "USA Water Polo Hall of Fame, John Vargas". Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Chris Humbert profile". h2opolo.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  18. ↑ Εγραψε ιστορία! Ο λόγος για τον Ολυμπιακό που έγραψε τη δική του χρυσή ιστορία στο πόλο αφού κέρδισε 6–5 την ουγγρική Βάσας μέσα στο σπίτι της και είναι η μοναδική ομάδα στην ιστορία του αθλήματος που κατάφερε να κατακτήσει και τα τέσσερα τρόπαια που διεκδίκησε (in Greek), rizospastis.gr, 31/12/2002
  19. ↑ "Chris Humbert (2018)". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  20. ↑ "Hall of Fame Inductees". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. Archived from the original on 2019-05-31. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
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