SAN DIEGO – Dana Ochsner, San Diego State assistant water polo coach for the past three seasons, has been named the program's interim head coach for the 2023 campaign. The announcement was made by SDSU Director of Athletics J. D. Wicker on Tuesday morning.
""I am excited to have Coach Ochsner take over the leadership of our water polo program this season," Wicker said. "Dana has been working diligently with the team for the past three years and it is evident that our student-athletes have a great deal of respect for her. I look forward to the future of our water polo program as we continue to compete for conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances."
The Oceanside, Calif., native, who competed collegiately for four years at California, from 2010-13, assumes the helm from Carin Crawford, who led the program for 24 years and retired at the end of the 2022 season.
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to continue to be a part of this amazing Aztec family," Ochsner said. "I would like to thank the search committee and especially John David Wicker and Lisa Pearson for believing in my vision for the program. Being a native San Diegan, I feel a great sense of pride in the university and our community. I can't thank my colleagues and the student-athletes enough for their support as I embark on this new role, and I look forward to leading this program to new heights. This is such an exceptional group of dedicated young women, and I am excited to be a part of their growth and success in and out of the pool."
Ochsner, who was a two-meter in college, led a team that went 87-30 in four years and won the 2011 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship. The Bears finished third in the NCAA Tournament in her freshman season (2010) and runner-up in her sophomore year (2011).
Individually, Ochsner was honored as a second-team All-American and a second-team All-MPSF performer after the 2011 and 2012 seasons and in 2013 was named a third-team All-American and an honorable mention All-MPSF athlete. Also, in the 2013 season, she was honored by being named both the team captain and its Most Valuable Player. Her 40 goals in 2010 were, at the time, the sixth most by a freshman in Cal history and still rank as the 10th highest on that list.
Ochsner was selected and competed as a member of the USA Water Polo's Women's Cadet National Team from 2005-08 and the US Junior National Team from 2009-12. As a member of the US Junior National Team she competed and won a gold medal in the 2010 Global Championships and participated in the 2011 Junior World Championships.
Professionally, Ochsner played in Seville, Spain for Club Water Polo Dos Hermanas in 2013 and 2014 and followed that up in 2015 with a season with UTS Balmain Water Polo Club in Sydney, Australia.
During her playing career and after its conclusion, she has coached both at the high school, club and junior college level in the San Diego area. Beginning in 2013, Ochsner was the assistant coach for the boys team at El Camino High School and helped to lead the program to three CIF-San Diego Section Division 2 playoff appearances. She added the responsibility of head girl's coach at El Camino in 2016 and led that squad to CIF-San Diego Section Open and Division 1 playoff appearances which included a championship in 2019 and a semi-final run in 2019.
In the summer of 2022, she guided the La Jolla United 16U club team to a top eight finish at the Junior Olympics. In 2017, she was named the girl's head coach for the North San Diego Stars Water Polo Club. Under her tutelage, the U18 team competed in the Junior Olympic National Tournament in each of the last three seasons and at Miramar College, from 2015-17, Ochsner was an assistant coach for the men's team.
Ochsner earned a bachelor's degree in political science from California in 2013 and a master's degree in education from Grand Canyon University in 2020. She and her husband, Joey Kienle, who is the water polo coach and a special education teacher at San Diego's Clairemont High School, reside in San Diego.
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