Merrill Moses is here to replace the medal that was stolen from him.
The U.S. water polo goalie is in Rio for his third Olympic games, eager to get back on the podium after the silver medal he won at 2008 Beijing was stolen out of his parents’ home in 2010. The Olympic Museum and the IOC provided him with a replica medal, but he says he’s ready to replace it … or better yet, upgrade it.
“When that happened, all I really cared about was that my family wasn’t in the home when it happened,” Moses said on Friday, a day before the water polo competition started. “And if anyone ever asks me about it, I just tell them: ‘It pushes me to get a gold one.’”
Moses, at 39, is one of the veterans for Team USA, and will most likely split time with backup McQuin Baron, the 20-year-old USC standout who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds.
“We have completely different styles. I’m more quick, a shorter goalie; he’s super long, and he’s the future of Team USA.”
Moses says there is no bad blood between the two. “We call each other the Dream Team. …We think with both of us in the goal, it mixes it up, and [opponents] have to switch up their strategy.”
Moses has had to make his own switch up for these Games – that of adjusting back to being a player. Since 2012, Moses has been an assistant coach at Pepperdine University.
“When you’re coaching, you don’t have a lot of control,” he said. “So it’s good to be back and having control again. But I also think it’s made me stronger as a player. I understand what the field players are doing better.”
Moses has had to endure a grueling schedule over the last four years to get back here – he coaches the Pepperdine season from August to December, then hooks up with the national team from January back until August. The yearlong grind has been tough, especially on Moses’ wife and two children.
“My wife is a saint,” he said. “It’s been tough on them. I’ve been gone a lot. But they’re here now, here to watch me, and this will be my last Olympic Games. I want to go out with a bang.”
