Josh Samuels

Joshua Martin Kugler Samuels (born 8 July 1991) is a water polo player from the United States. He played for the United States men's national water polo team that won a gold medal in water polo at the 2015 Pan American Games, and competed for the team in the 2016 Summer Olympics, which finished in tenth place.

In high school, he was the 2008 Orange County Register Boys Water Polo Player of the Year, 2009 Century League Male Athlete of the Year, Century League Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and 2009 Orange County Register Male Athlete of the Year. In college at UCLA, he scored 176 career goals for the water polo team, 3rd all-time at the school.

Personal life Samuels was born in Newport Beach, California, lives in Villa Park, California, and is Jewish. His parents are Elizabeth Kugler (who played softball for U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Davis) and Martin Samuels. He has an older brother, Albert (who competed for the Loyola Marymount men's water polo team), and older sister, Angela (who competed for the Loyola Marymount women's swimming team). He now works as an associate for Orion Property Partners.

Water polo career High school Samuels attended Villa Park High School in Orange County. There, playing water polo, he was the 2008 Orange County Register Boys Water Polo Player of the Year, 2009 Century League Male Athlete of the Year, Century League Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, 2009 Orange County Register Male Athlete of the Year, first-team All-County, first-team California-Hawaii All-America, and National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) All-America in 2006, 2007, and 2008, and 2008 All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II co-MVP. He was a two-year team captain, and ended his career as Villa Park's all-time leading scorer (408 career goals) and with the school record for career assists (541). In his sophomore year in 2010 he was named an honorable mention Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-American, in his junior year in 2011 he was named a first-team ACWPC All-American and a second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) selection, and in his senior year in 2012 he was named a first-team All-MPSF selection.

International Samuels competed professionally in the Italian Series A League for SS Lazio, and in the Regional Water Polo League for VK Budva.

Honors In 2018 Samuels was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.