Gregg Emde is a
water polo coach for the Rockwood Swim Club. (This is my swim team. He is my water polo
coach.)
Gregg started
swimming at the age of six (6) for
Claymont Bath and Tennis, subsequently known as
The Bath and Tennis Club of West County (West county of
St. Louis). Swimming competitively continued for Emde for the next thirteen (13) years, including
Parkway Swim Club and
Rockwood Swim Club. He also went to the
Councilman Swim Camp at Indiana University while in his swimming prime. Swimming for two (2)
State Championship teams ('82 and '85) with Parkway West and
Dr. Lane Page was the end of his
competitive swimming career.
Emde started playing Water Polo in 1982 as a
sophomore at
Parkway West. That
team began its sophomore season zero to four (0-4) and ended that season in third (3
rd) place. in State for the Sophomore State
Tournament. Playing spring and summer
ball with
Daisy Water Polo and Don Casey (Daisy's coach... an ass hole, but THE guy to play for in
Missouri) added much to Emde's experience and knowledge of the game. Daisy, with Emde, finished third at the
Junior Olympics in the summer of 1984. Gregg's
senior year was the first and only
State Championship in Parkway West's water polo history. Gregg saw his team move from a 3-0 team to a 22-0 team his senior year. He also was selected for Missouri's
All-State Team and was invited to train with and try out for the
National Team following his
graduation.
Turning down some
scholarships, Gregg was coach and
Captain of
Denison University's water polo team for two (2) years before transferring to
Ohio University and immediately
founded a water polo program at that
school. Although most of his new team were relatively new to the
sport, the team had a winning record the two (2) years Emde ran the program. This program still
exists today.
Gregg still likes to get in the
water and play polo with the
Clayton Senior Men's Water Polo Team when his schedule allows. He doubles as a
referee during the
high school season. He has been with
MSHSAA for four (4) years. This also help keep him familiar with the revisions of the
rules of the sport and teach how to
cheat in the sport well. In 2001 Gregg was rate one of the top ten (10) refs in the area. Gregg has been asked to coach the
Speed Cup Team, the
Youth Zone, and several High School teams.
Gregg and his
wife, Sheila, live in St. Louis with their two (2) boys, Steven and Joshua (most likely future water polo stars). Aside from water polo, Gregg also coaches his
sons in
baseball. He also
works in
sales... but that is boring stuff.