Artie Lambert

In the pool Arthur Fordham “Artie” Lambert was a three-time All-American in both swimming and water polo, going on to be a successful coach in the latter. After gaining a master’s degree from San Jose State University (SJSU) Lambert taught and coached at Awalt High School from 1961 to 1967. Whilst there the water polo team won four Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and four Northern California titles. Lambert also played for the Olympic Club and was part of the team that won national titles in 1957 and 1959.

At the 1967 Pan American Games the United States won gold in the water polo tournament with Lambert coaching the team. From this success he was named as the head coach of the US Olympic team for the 1968 Mexico City Games where they finished in fifth place. Lambert continued to work with the US team as an assistant coach at the 1972 München Olympics, with the team winning the bronze medal.

After the Olympics Lambert worked as the coach of the water polo team at Stanford from 1974 to 1978, winning a NCAA championship. At Stanford he also coached the men’s and women’s volleyball teams. Lambert was inducted into multiple Halls of Fame including that of US Water Polo, SJSU, the Olympic Club of San Francisco, and the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.