Hall of Fame
Bill Anttila founded the now highly-successful men's water polo program at Pacific in 1947 and led the team as head coach for 18 successful years with only one losing season. Anttila's 1956 Tigers captured the league title with a 12-2 record behind the star play of single-season record holder and fellow Pacific Hall of Famer Bob Gaughran.
Now a writer for Water Polo Planet, Anttila is known nationally as one of the foremost authorities on water polo.
In 1948, Bill was responsible for the inauguration of the first community college water polo program in Northern California at Stockton College. Bill was also the swimming coach at Stockton College, where he won 10 NCC championships and never had a losing season.
Anttila's teams won 10 Northern California championships throughout his 38 seasons as a water polo coach. In 1,099 games, He compiled a 759-340 overall record (.691). At the time of his retirement, Anttila was the winningest water polo coach in the United States with the satisfaction of coaching over 50 All-Americans.
A 1989 Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Anttilla wrote a book titled Water Polo Drills and Playing Hints.
