Throughout Pepperdine’s history, Waves have earned 18 Olympic medals. If coaches were added to that mix, this number jumps to 34, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Since 1956, Pepperdine has seen Waves attend the Olympic Games as either a player or as a coach. The first medals won by Waves started in 1964, as Pepperdine watched their own Marylyn White and David Kirkwood win silver in USA Women’s Track 4×100 Relay and USA Modern Pentathlon Team, respectively.
In 2024, a few more Pepperdine coaches, both current and former, added Olympic medals to their resume at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Jack Kocur, former Men’s Water Polo Head Coach (‘05-’11), Head Coach Emeritus Marv Dunphy and Marcio Sicoli, Women’s Beach Volleyball Head Coach, walked away from Paris as Olympic finalists.
These coaches are no stranger to the Olympic Games, and this connection Pepperdine has to the Games is something these Olympians don’t take for granted.
“I don’t think I would have had the same opportunity being part of Team USA if I did not attend Pepperdine,” Kocur said.
Marcio Sicoli: Four For Four
Still donning the Pepperdine banner, Sicoli returned to the Olympics for the fourth time in ‘24, previously attending the ‘04, ‘12 and ‘16 Olympics, all for Women’s Beach Volleyball national teams.
In ‘04, he was an assistant coach for the Brazilian national team. In ’12, he coached the U.S. pairs of Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor and in ’16 he coached Walsh Jennings and April Ross.
Just recently in ‘24, he coached the Canadian duo of Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes. Across his four Olympic journeys, Coach Sicoli has helped all his teams to medal finishes: silver in ’04, gold in ’12, bronze in ’16 and silver again in ’24.
To Sicoli, there is only one word to describe his Olympic journey — unique.
“It is such a unique event that [there] is nothing you can really do to prepare to be a part of one,” Sicoli said. “The Olympics always give you butterflies because you know that you’re going to an event that has been alive for many, many, years but it will be something new, and it will have its own specific characteristics.”
In four appearances, Sicoli has not only racked up multiple Top 3 Olympic finishes, but also donned multiple national banners. Sicoli has helped Brazil, the United States and now Canada secure medals in Women’s Beach Volleyball – even making history while doing it.
With Paris concluded, Sicoli’s coaching helped Wilkerson and Parades to a silver medal, the first ever Women’s Beach Volleyball medal for Canada, according to Global News. Humble, blessed and thankful are the words Sicoli said as he stamped his place in the Olympics, and Canadian history.
“To be like a little piece of that puzzle in history, that’s what will always come with me,” Sicoli said. “I’m really grateful for the support, grateful for the athletes who chose me, for Pepperdine giving me the opportunity to do this. Just grateful and blessed to make history and hopefully inspire other people to follow their visions and follow their dreams.”
Being that little piece of that bigger puzzle was no easy feat, and Sicoli said the goosebumps still haven’t left his body from the gold medal match against Italy. What he feels overall is a sense of pride for his duo and the vision they had to make Canadian history – something the duo exactly did.
“The first thing that comes to mind is the relief that you’re just like, ’OK, this is done,’ and then, as the girls Brenda and Melissa said, ‘We survived through the Olympics,’” Sicoli said. “Second thing is this accomplishment that your vision makes sense, that your dream makes sense, because that is the worst part of the vision, when you’re dreaming and it’s never there or it’s not even close.”
The vision is exactly what Sicoli plays for, it is the motivator that brings him back to the Olympics every four years. It explains his reasoning for donning three separate national banners in Brazil, the U.S. and Canada – playing for something bigger than himself.
“I’m really attached to the people and the vision because really it’s just bigger than you,” Sicoli said. “[Playing for another country] doesn’t really cross my mind, but it is weird when you get your Olympic pack and then you go, ‘Oh my god! It’s all red and Lululemon.’”
Sicoli returned to Malibu with his name etched in Olympics history, a fourth Top 3 Olympic finish. The opportunity to play under the Eiffel Tower — a moment that will never make him forget how small he is, Sicoli said — and the memories of another Olympic journey.
“The most memorable thing that I can remember is all the laughs and the cries,” Sicoli said. “You’re so emotional, you’re so passionate about the games, the result of the people around you, that you cry a lot, you laugh a lot, and those are [moments] I remember vividly.”
When asked if another Olympics is on the horizon, Sicoli said at the moment he’s good where he’s at. He just wants to devote himself to his family and to Pepperdine University, but it’s always in the cards, Sicoli said.
“I already had three flags, Brazil, Canada and the U.S.,” Sicoli said. “I don’t know if there is going to be another flag, but if the vision is right, the people are right, definitely, I would love to go to another Olympics and represent Pepperdine University — glorify God through it.”
Marv Dunphy: A Veteran at Pepperdine and The Olympics
Dunphy is no stranger when it comes to both Pepperdine and the Olympic Games.
Over the last nine Olympic games, Dunphy has aided both Men’s and Women’s Volleyball for Team USA. This past summer, he helped the women’s team for the fourth-consecutive Olympic Games as a consultant coach.
At the Olympics, coaches unfortunately don’t receive medals. However, sometimes the staff will receive replicas, but the most important part is the people around you when you win it, Dunphy said.
“When you get close and you’re at that top echelon, it’s pretty rarefied air, and it’s special,” Dunphy said. “You really remember the people you did it with and how you did it.”
In his time at Pepperdine, Dunphy coached the Men’s Volleyball team for 34 seasons, starting in 1977 until his eventual retirement in 2017. During that time, he led the men’s team to four NCAA National Championships (‘78, ‘85, ‘92 and ‘05) ending his career with record of 612-277 (.688), and was voted as the 2005 National Coach of the Year, all according to Pepperdine Athletics.
For national teams, Dunphys’ resume is just as successful. He coached the U.S. National Team from 1985-88, and during that era, the team was ranked No. 1 in the world as they won all major international tournaments: the 1985 World Cup, the 1986 World Championships, the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1988 Olympic Games, his first Olympic Games appearance.
Across his Olympic career, Dunphy has racked up three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. His three gold medals came from the ‘88, ‘08 and ‘20 Olympics; his two silver medals came from the ‘12 and most recent ‘24 Olympics; and his bronze medal came from the ‘16 Olympics.
This is also the fifth-consecutive Olympic Games where Dunphy has aided a medal winning squad.
“We were clawing our way to some wins, and throughout the games, it wasn’t a piece of cake,” Dunphy said. “I think the further we get away from the event, the more it’s kind of like, ‘Hey, the crew did a pretty good job.’”
What was most important to Dunphy was winning it alongside Karch Kiraly, Team USA Women’s Volleyball Head Coach.
“He played for me when we won it in ’88,” Dunphy said. “Right at the end we were hugging it up and I was just so proud of him, always have been, and a little bit different role now where I’m kind of helping him as best I can, but probably just the pride of keeping up with the grind with him.”
Dunphy said he loves the grind, and he especially loves to work hard, but more importantly he loves being a part of something great. It is the main reason his commitment to the Olympic Games has never waivered.
“Everybody has somewhat of a need to achieve, you want to be part of something and you want to be part of something good,” Dunphy said. “When you think of the Olympic Games, it’s still relevant in the world today. What’s like that? Where everybody is competing for their country, but not at the expense of somebody else, and there’s still sportsmanship.”
Dunphy said there is some great history behind the Olympics, and it’s something that has never fails to give him goosebumps.
When asked if he would try to add more achievements to his Olympic resume, Dunphy said he left it all on a deal.
“The deal I make with this guy Karsh [Kiraly], because I’m sure going forward they’ll [Team USA] keep him,” Dunphy said. “I say this to him, and I do this every four years, ‘Hey, if I can add value to you or the squad, whatever, let’s do it.’ But mostly I want to help him.”
He can do it from afar, he could go check out a practice, or he could take a phone call, but he doesn’t need to be in the arena to help Coach Kiraly, Dunphy said.
Only time will tell if Dunphy will add to his long, storied, career.
Jack Kocur: Third Time’s The Charm
Kocur represented Pepperdine as not only a coach for Team USA Men’s Water Polo, but also as a former Alumna (‘97) and Water Polo player (‘93-’97).
His senior year at Pepperdine, Kocur was an All-American first-team member and helped Pepperdine win their first-ever NCAA Championship for water polo (’97). As a coach, Kocur was MPSF Co-Coach of the Year (‘08) before taking a job at University of Southern California – helping the Trojans win their fifth straight NCAA Championship, all according to Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.
His time at Pepperdine is what propelled him to the place he is today, Kocur said. It all stems from the athletic motto he remembers from his time here: “Purpose, everything we do in purpose.”
“I think that was the athletic motto for quite some time at Pepperdine,” Kocur said. “Pepperdine gives us the opportunity to be passionate with what we do, and that has helped us continue beyond the collegiate level into the international level, [because] we have a passion that Pepperdine has really put [in us], kindled, fired and really got us going.”
Kocur made his third appearance at the Olympic Games this summer, beginning his dream at the ‘12 Olympic Games and his second at the ‘16 Olympic Games. As an Olympic coach, the feeling of representing Team USA is remarkable, Kocur said, but also comes with a lot of pressure.
“I made it a dream to myself when I was ten years old that I wanted to represent Team USA and the Olympics, and it ended up being in the form of a coach, but there’s a double fold there,” Kocur said. “Because you have these young athletes in your hands for 4 to 8 to 12 to sometimes 16 years, and you have their well-being at your hands, you have their dreams and wishes at your hands, and you gotta make good decisions for them and help guide them while also help listen to them.”
He got his start at the Olympics under, at the time, Team USA Head Coach Terry Schroeder, also a former Pepperdine Water Polo head coach (‘86-’05 and ‘13-’23), as a video scout — the same role he held this summer. This time around, Kocur assisted the team in the biggest way yet as the team finished with a bronze medal.
At the ‘16 Olympic Games, Kocur served as an assistant coach, drastically different from a video scout. The work consisted of trying to be the brains behind the whole operation, Kocur said.
“Being a scouting coach is not sexy at all,” Kocur said. “You’re grunting, you’re working, you’re in front of the computer and you’re not really in front of the athletes a whole lot.”
But all that hard work paid off at the end, and when thinking back at that medal-winning shootout moment, Kocur said he can’t suppress the emotions.
“It’s been a 12-year journey for me as a coach, and probably an eight-year journey as an athlete to finally be on the podium,” Kocur said. “I was kind of dumbfounded, I was numb. I teared up.”
His mind was clouded with questions: Did this really just happen? Did we really just win a medal? But he also thinks back to the sacrifices made to help him don the United States across his chest.
“My family has to sacrifice for the opportunity for [me] to still be representing the red, white and blue,” Kocur said. “My wife was there, so having her through that journey, and our kids being a part of that, it was priceless.”
Kocur hopes to continue living out his Olympic dreams under Team USA, whether that be as a coach or a scout. But, in the worst-case scenario, he said he hopes he can hold onto the memories of the Paris Olympics.
“I pray that God gives me the strength to have a good memory of those memories,” Kocur said.
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Contact Justin Rodriguez via email: justin.rodriguez@pepperdine.edu
