One of the most iconic figures in the history of American water polo, Dr. Terry Schroeder returned for his second stint in Malibu in 2013 and enters his 33rd season overall on staff with Pepperdine water polo and first as senior advisor in 2025.
The 1997 NCAA championship-winning coach finished his 31st season as head coach in 2023 before stepping down in March 2024 to serve as Associate Head Coach, a position he held for one season.
In his first 20-year term (1986-2005) as Pepperdine’s head coach, Schroeder became one of the top collegiate water polo coaches in the nation. After coaching an unheralded USA squad to the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and again leading the Americans at the 2012 Games, he earned the right to be known as one of the best coaches in the world.
He was also one of the best players the sport has ever seen, as he served as the U.S. team captain for a decade and helped the Americans to a pair of silver medals.
The Waves have enjoyed tremendous success under Schroeder. Pepperdine has earned nine NCAA Championships berths and claimed the program’s first-ever national championship in 1997.
The 1997 squad went 25-3 (.893) and posted the best winning percentage in school history. The campaign ended with an 8-7 overtime win over local rival USC in the NCAA title game, held at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatics Complex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Not only was Schroeder the 1997 National Coach of the Year, he also earned conference coach of the year honors five times (Golden Coast in 2016 and 2019, MPSF in 1997 and 1998, and Big West in 1989).
He also led the Waves to a third-place NCAA finish in 1991, fourth place in 1989 and fifth place in 1987, 1990 and 1992. In 2019, Schroeder led the Waves back to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1997 and reached the national semifinal.
As he began rebuilding the program with his return in 2013, Schroeder has found success, including the inaugural Golden Coast Conference Tournament championship in 2016. The Waves also won in 2019 to become the first school to win the tournament more than once.
Schroeder posted a record of 340-220 (.607) in his first 20 seasons as head coach and is now 483-339 (.587) over 30 seasons.
Schroeder stepped down from his position as Pepperdine’s head coach to join the U.S. National Team after the 2005 season. While he still contributed to the Waves over the years, he agreed in the summer of 2012 to return as a volunteer assistant, while taking over as head coach again on January 1, 2013.
During his hiatus, the U.S. men’s water polo squad became one of the top stories of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as he led a group that included Pepperdine alums Merrill Moses and Jesse Smith to the silver medal. His U.S. squad entered the Olympics ranked ninth in the world but the team won its group and defeated Serbia in the semifinals before falling to Hungary in the gold-medal game. He also coached the Americans at the 2012 London Olympics to an eighth-place finish.
Regarded as one of the world’s all-time outstanding players, Schroeder was the U.S. National Team’s captain from 1983-92 and was part of the team for 16 years. He was a four-time Olympian for the U.S. (including the boycotted 1980 Games), which won silver medals in 1984 and 1988 and placed fourth in 1992. He helped the U.S. win its first-ever major international competition in 1991, as the Americans captured the FINA Cup in Barcelona by beating longtime nemesis Yugoslavia in the title game.
Noted as a leading spokesman for the sport of water polo, Schroeder has been featured in numerous national publications, including Sports Illustrated and the New York Times. He modeled for a statue that was unveiled prior to the 1984 Olympic Games, which sits outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He also carried the U.S. flag at the closing ceremonies of the 1998 Seoul Olympics.
Schroeder was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2013, the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005, the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985.
As a Pepperdine student-athlete, he earned All-American honors in 1977, 1978 and 1980 and is the school’s leader in goals scored in a career (392) and a season (138 in 1978). The Waves finished fourth at the NCAA Championships three times with Schroeder. He graduated with honors from Pepperdine in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine.
He completed his doctorate studies at the Palmer-West Chiropractic School in Sunnyvale, Calif., and operates a chiropractic office in Westlake Village, Calif.
In 2016, the author Diana Addison Lyle published the book Swimming Through Life: Terry Schroeder and the USA Olympic Men’s Water Polo Team.
He and his wife, Lori, have two daughters, Leanna (a Pepperdine alum who played beach volleyball) and Sheridan.
