Dr. Marcelo Leonardi enters his seventh season as the head coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines in 2021. In six seasons, Leonardi has recorded a 143-56 (.719) overall record at Michigan. He has guided the Wolverines to four NCAA appearances & four CWPA Championships in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and three first place conference finishes during the regular season. In just his second year at Michigan in 2016, Leonardi took the Wolverines to their highest point in the 16 years of the program. U-M achieved its highest ranking of all-time, No. 4, after placing 4th at the NCAA Championship. The Wolverines won the CWPA Championship for the sixth time and first since 2010, giving Leonardi his first college championship. He was named the Doc Hunkler Coach of the Tournament. The team finished with a 30-8 overall record. Named the 2014 and 2018 recipient of USA Water Polo's Sandy Nitta Distinguished Women's Coaching Award, Leonardi has been heavily involved with the national governing body since 2009. He served two cycles as the USA women's national youth team coach, leading Team USA to gold at the FINA Youth World Championship in Madrid, Spain in 2014 and to a fifth place finish in New Zealand in 2016. His gold medal in 2014 was the first Youth World Championship in USA Water Polo history. Leonardi has served as the national technical director for the women's Olympic Development Program (ODP) and has been associated with the organization since 2013. In his role with USA Water Polo, Leonardi oversees the implementation of training for all female athletes in the Olympic Development Program nationwide as well as competition at the national training and selection camps.
Also, check out our new CWPA Remote - Professional Edition video series on YouTube. The first episode is available now with Nicole Freeman Womack - VP of Team Marketing and Business Operation for the NBA. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/FkB7Oh31Ru8
