John Vargas

John Vargas (born June 17, 1961) is an American water polo player who competed for the University of California Irvine. He participated in the men's water polo tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where the U.S. team placed fourth in competition. He later coached water polo at Corona del Mar High School, and had a highly successful twenty year career as the Head water polo Coach at Stanford University. Vargas coached the US National Water Polo team beginning around 1995, and was part of the coaching staff at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

1992 Barcelona Olympics He participated in the men's water polo tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where the U.S. team placed fourth in competition.

Yugoslavia was the world's leading team prior to the Olympics, but was banned from play by the International Olympic Committee due to a United Nations sanction for the Bosnian and Croatian war. After preliminary rounds, the U.S. team and the Unified Team made it to the semi-finals for Group A, with Italy and Spain advancing for Group B. In semi-final play, Italy outscored the Unified Team with a 9-8 victory, and Spain beat the U.S. team 6-4. In preliminary pool games Italy and Spain had formerly tied 9-9. While still at Corona del Mar, he served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National team in preparation for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and ascended to the role of Head Olympic coach at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. At Corona del Mar, Vargas led the team to seven California Interscholastic Federation titles.