Former Stanford water polo coach Dante Dettamanti dies in bike crash
PALO ALTO -- Retired Stanford University water polo coach Dante Dettamanti died Tuesday after crashing his bicycle on Canada Road, according to Stanford and law enforcement officials.
The Redwood City CHP office received a call at roughly 4:05 p.m. Tuesday about a cyclist that collided with a San Mateo County Public Works Department street sweeper that was parked on the right shoulder, according to CHP spokesman Officer Art Montiel.
The cyclist, Dettamanti, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 80 years old.
Dettamanti spent 25 years coaching at Stanford between 1977 and 2001 and led the university's water polo team to eight NCAA championships and 14 championship game appearances.
He was one of five Stanford head coaches to win at least eight championships and was just the second NCAA coach ever to collect more than 600 career victories.
He also coached the USA World University Games water polo teams to gold and silver medals in 1979 and 1981, respectively. He was elected to the national Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2002.
"It's hard to imagine any other coach having such a profound impact on their athletes, colleagues and community," said Stanford Director of Men's Water Polo Brian Flacks. "Undoubtedly, Dante will go down as one of the all-time greats, but his impact was much greater than any win in the pool. He will be deeply missed."
