A native of San Antonio.  While in middle school, he started playing water polo with the NISD age group club team that was active at the time.  He was a 4 year Letterman in swimming and water polo  at Marshall High School.  During his senior year season, Marshall claimed would would be the last water polo State Championship for a San Antonio area boy's team. He swam in 3 State Championships and 2 Junior National Meets with AAAA.  He was awarded 1st Team All-State and 3rd Team All-America for Water Polo his Senior year. Coach Olvera attended and played Water Polo one season at the U.S. Naval Academy and stayed active for several years with club teams in Austin and San Antonio.