As a freshman at Stanford, he was the team's best player. He was a four-time All-American for the Cardinal.
During those 3 1/2 years, he led Stanford to four NCAA title games and two national championships.
Last week, he finished his college career with a school-record 332 goals, including 80 this season.
He is a three-time National Player of the Year.
A week ago, the ex-Stanford star and two-time American Olympian received his undergraduate degree in international relations.
It took him just 3 1/2 years.
Then this Tuesday, he signed the contract to join fellow American and former Stanford player Peter Hudnut in Italy.
At the Athens Olympics this summer, Azevedo scored 15 goals. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when he was just 18 years-old, he scored 13 goals.
On January 10th, after the league's Christmas break, he will join his team which is at the midpoint of the season.
It's gratifying, since Italy is the best league for water polo.
I just want to get over there and see how good I can get so hopefully in 2008, we can get a gold medal. These guys play 200 games a year while we play 75 to 80. That's the big difference. We're just as talented as they are. I hope this closes the gap.
This is an unbelievable opportunity for me and also for the sport.
In international circles, Azevedo is regarded as the best young player in the world.
His father, Ricardo Azevedo, who assisted his son in negotiations, soon might coach his son on the U.S. national team and in the Olympics.
The elder Azevedo, currently an assistant coach on the U.S. national team, is under consideration as a replacement for U.S. coach Ratko Rudic, who recently returned to his native Croatia.
Ricardo Azevedo, who is also the head waterpolo coach at Cal State Long Beach said about his son:
Watching Tony grow up has been a wonderful thing.
What I'm most proud of is he's been able to stay humble. He's a very good water-polo player. Most people will also say he's a very nice young man. That is the part his mother and I are most proud of.
"Tony's contract means more than just dollars and cents," said Eric Velazquez, USA Water Polo Director of Media Relations.
Velazquez added:
It shows that he possesses a star-quality that people are attracted to, that he is one of the best to ever play the game and that he deserves to be mentioned in the same class as the rest of the A-List athletes in the Olympics.
This is a huge step forward for Tony and for our sport.
American Waterpolo Olympian from Stanford Heads to Italy
Perhaps Tony's biggest challenge now: Learning how to speak the language.
His home base in Italy will be in Cremona.
Cremona, Italy
Cremona lies in the heart of the Po plain on a small rise beside a river that once ran through the ancient town center. The town was founded by the Romans in 218 BC.
Cremona is just south of Lago di Garda, one of the most beautiful lakes in all of Italy. It is near Verona, where he will be able to go to the Opera in an outdoor amphitheatre. The old city of Bergamo is also not that far away. Venice is less than two hours to the east by train, and Milan is about half that distance to the west.
Tony, if you want to meet two of the most fabulous Italian hosts in the entire country, please send an email to inspire@ruggedelegance.com. Andrea and Cesare are from Brescia which is a hop-skip-and-a-jump north of Cremona. They are big into sports, especially skiing.
While Italy becomes your new homeland, you can count on a few Americans living vicariously through you, both personally and professionally. Even those who don't know the first thing about your intriguing sport.
About Tony Azevedo
Tony Azevedo is regarded as one of water polo's most prolific scorers.
In Athens, he was the second-highest scorer of the tournament with 15 goals, including three three-goal performances.
In 2003, Azevedo led all scorers with 33 goals at the Pan American Games and was first with 12 goals during the FINA World League.
In June of 2003, Men's Journal Magazine named Azevedo as the world's seventh-best male athlete ahead of American sports icons Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods and Roy Jones, Jr.
The magazine cited his "superhuman" upper-body strength and the endurance needed to swim about three miles during a 28-minute game.
Azevedo led the U.S. in scoring with 14 goals at the 2001 World Championships despite playing with a ruptured eardrum and tossed in 13 goals in his Olympic debut as an 18-year-old.
He is a three-time winner of the Pete Cutino Award, an award that is symbolic of the nation's top collegiate water polo player. Recently, Azevedo was also named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Player of the Year for a fourth straight season.
The Azevedo That Almost Wasn't ...
The world of water polo almost never knew Tony Azevedo.
When he was four, Azevedo suffered a fall that severed his trachea and esophagus, leaving inhaled air to spill into the surrounding tissues. The condition, known as the guillotine effect, claims the life of nine out of 10 victims on average.
Azevedo's heart stopped beating on the operating table for a period of four minutes before doctors were able to revive him they warned his parents that he was likely to have suffered some brain damage and that they could count on him being on respirators for the rest of his life.
Today, he is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in international relations and is one of the world's best athletes.
He is considered one of the greatest athletes to compete in any sport at Stanford University.
Azevedo's miraculous recovery was swift and his case is still used as an example by physicians in training at that hospital.
Congratulations to Tony, the Azevedo family and all of Italy!
Inspire & Be Inspired (R).
Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, impervious to the guillotine and "keeping your head above water" living!
~ Jennifer Carolyn King
fresh content posted
Azevedo, who was born on November 21, 1981, is only twenty-three years old. 
