The Paris Olympics are slated to begin Friday, July 26, and as usual there will be a large contingent of Long Beach athletes and coaches present to represent our city on the global stage. A total of 21 athletes and coaches with strong Long Beach ties are making the trip to Europe to compete in the Games.
This year there will be a strong media contingent as well, plus a unique situation where Wilson alum Lashinda Demus will accept a gold medal from the 2012 Olympics, after the woman who finished in front of her tested positive for illegal substances.
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As this year’s Games begin, attention is already turning towards 2028, when Long Beach will host a number of sports as part of the Los Angeles Olympics.
ATHLETES
Golf: Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele is one of the hottest golfers on Earth, fresh off his second Majors win of the year. Long Beach State golf fans remember him as a great representative for the Beach, where he was the Big West Freshman of the Year in 2012 as well as a first-team All-Big West selection. After that standout frosh campaign, Schauffele transferred to his hometown San Diego State, and has gone on to a great pro career including PGA Championship and then the Open Championship in 2024. He was also an Olympic gold medalist in the 2020 Games.
Rugby: Marcus Tupuola, Lucas Lacamp, Adam Channel
Rugby is a sport on the rise in Long Beach and around the world so it’s no surprise that this year’s men’s rugby team for the USA features a trio of Long Beach athletes. Marcus Tupuola, a Carson native and resident, plays for local pro team Belmont Shore as does his USA Rugby teammate Lucas Lacamp. Adam Channel is a Long Beach native who graduated from Millikan, and has been named a traveling reserve with this year’s Olympic team.
Track & Field: Rachel Glenn
A Wilson alum with a very bright future, the 22 year-old Rachel Glenn qualified for the Olympics in the high jump, and also made it to the US Trials finals in the 400 hurdles. A senior at the University of Arkansas, Glenn won last year’s NCAA Indoor title in the high jump with a collegiate record-tying leap of 2 meters. At just 22 years old, Glenn will have a strong chance to compete near her hometown in 2028 at the next Olympics as well.
Men’s Volleyball: TJ DeFalco, Kyle Ensing
TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing were two-time NCAA champions at Long Beach State, and the duo will be two-time Olympians together as they head to Paris hoping to bring home the United States’ first men’s volleyball medal since a bronze in Rio in 2016. The Americans were silver medalists in the 2023 FIVB Nations League and will look to perform well in Paris. DeFalco will be a star attacker for the Americans, while Ensing, an opposite hitter, is an alternate for the team.
Women’s Volleyball: Justine Wong-Orantes
United States libero Justine Wong-Orantes considers herself an adopted daughter of Long Beach. The Cypress native attended nearby Los Al High but won a national title in high school with club team Long Beach Mizuno. Wong-Orantes’ father coached with Mizuno and she was an assistant coach at Long Beach State for a year, and said she grew up watching volleyball in the Walter Pyramid.
Men’s Water Polo: Max Irving, Chase Dodd, Ryder Dodd, Hannes Daube
The unofficial Long Beach team at the Olympics, as always, is the United States Men’s Water Polo team. Only once in the century-plus history of Olympics water polo has the US men’s team not had at least one native on the roster and this year the team has four. Wilson alum Max Irving is a two-time Olympian and one of the teams’ leaders. The Dodd brothers grew up in Long Beach but attended high school in Orange County, and Ryder Dodd is likely to be one of the stories of the Games, as the youngest member of the team since Long Beach’s Tony Azevedo. Hannes Daube also grew up in Long Beach and lists it as his hometown, but prepped in Orange County.
Women’s Water Polo: Rachel Fattal, Amanda Longan, Maggie Steffens, Orsi Hertzka (France), Marilla Mimides (Canada)
There are a ton of local ties for women’s water polo Olympians. Several members of the United States women’s team live in Long Beach–those who list the city officially as their residence are Rachel Fattal (who also has local ties as an assistant coach at Long Beach State), Amanda Longan, and Maggie Steffens. The team also trains locally having used LBCC’s new aquatic facility. Internationally, Orsi Hertzka is a Long Beach State alum who will suit up for host France, while fellow Beach alum Marilla Mimides will compete for Canada.
COACHES
Track & Field: LaTanya Sheffield
There are going to be a number of superstars on the track or field for the United States women’s team, and there will be one coaching them too: LaTanya Sheffield. Long Beach State’s Sheffield is the head coach for the Beach, and will be head coach of the US women’s team featuring stars like Sydney McLaughlin and rising talent like Long Beach native Rachel Glenn.
Men’s Volleyball: Matt Fuerbringer
Former Long Beach State assistant and Mizuno Long Beach co-founder Matt Fuerbringer will be back on the sideline with the USA men’s volleyball team as an assistant coach. Fuerbringer will coach a pair of Long Beach athletes on the team in TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing.
Men’s Water Polo: Gavin Arroyo
Longtime Long Beach State water polo coach Gavin Arroyo will once again be prowling the sideline with the US men’s team, where he’s serving as an assistant coach in Paris. Arroyo will be stewarding four Long Beach natives on the team in Max Irving, Ryder and Chase Dodd, and Hannes Daube.
Women’s Water Polo: Chris Oeding
Longtime LBCC aquatics coach Chris Oeding will once again serve as an assistant coach with the US women’s water polo team, a team filled with familiar local faces as always.
MEDIA
There will be a trio of NBC commentators with strong Long Beach ties this Summer. Five-time Olympian Tony Azevedo will represent Long Beach and Wilson High as a commentator for the network’s water polo broadcasts, while Long Beach State legend Misty May-Treanor, a three-time gold medalist, will be a commentator for beach volleyball. Long Beach Poly alum Snoop Dogg will be all over NBC as a regular primetime commentator bringing his unique perspective on the day’s events.
