Ryan Bailey (born August 28, 1975) is an American water polo player and Olympic silver medallist. He competed in the Summer Olympic games between 2000 and 2012.
School
Bailey went to Millikan High School in Long Beach, California, and attended UC Irvine in Irvine, California. In college he was a four-time All-American, tallied 104 goals in his senior season, and was awarded the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year in 1998.
Olympics
He was a member of the United States men's national water polo team for the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, he scored two goals. In the 2012 London Olympics, he scored three goals. He was part of the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where, in the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, ultimately defeated by Hungary. This is the highest finish ever in the Summer Olympics for USA Water Polo. He was the leading scorer for the US team at the 2012 London Olympics with 13 goals.
Professional
Bailey has played professionally for a number of European water polo clubs, and played in two European Championships : 2004: VK Jug Dubrovnik in Croatia 2004–2005: Dynamo Moscow 2005–2006: VK Jadran Split in Croatia 2006: Panionios in Greece 2007–2009: VK Partizan in Serbia
Awards
In 2019, Bailey was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
See also
List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men) List of players who have appeared in multiple men's Olympic water polo tournaments