Your 2024 Fall Captains Nathan Barnett and James Hutmacher
Varsity Rats are Coached by Paul Barnett JV Rats are Coached by Tom Magner
Team Managers:
Coach Paul Barnett Paul is an Ann Arbor native and Huron High School alum. At Huron, Paul was a member of the ice hockey, swimming and water polo teams. He was a two time captain of the water polo team, earning All-American honors in his Junior and Senior years. His team won the 1982 State Water Polo championship and he earned MVP honors. In August 1983 Paul was selected to attend the USA Water Polo National Junior Development camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He went on to swim and play polo at Kenyon College where he was a 9 time NCAA Division III All American swimmer, helping his team win 4 consecutive NCAA Division III titles. Paul was captain and coach of the Kenyon water polo club which competed at the NCAA Division II Eastern championships. He played for various club teams as well including the Ann Arbor Water Polo Club and the University of Michigan club. Paul’s coaching experience includes a stint as Assistant coach at Huron in the late 1980’s. He came back to the sport when his sons became involved in water polo, moving from the stands back to the deck by taking on Assistant coaching duties at Huron in 2016 and Head Coaching duties in 2017. Along with his coaching duties at Huron, Paul coaches youth water polo with the local USA Water Polo club, Wolverine Water Polo and still tries to play on occasion with the Wolverine Masters team. When not coaching or playing polo he is an Attorney practicing Municipal law in Washtenaw County.
Coach Tom Magner
Tom is the newest coach to join the Huron River Rat family and is currently a teacher at Honey Creek school where he teaches physical education for grades K-8. He has played water polo since 2002 and has no interest in stopping anytime soon. Tom's coaching career started in Ann Arbor with the Buhr Park Sharks. While at Western Michigan University, he enjoyed coaching an age group program, high school water polo, as well as running the club water polo program. Tom believes in the power and importance of team sports and looks forward to the upcoming season at Huron and also hopes to contribute to the wonderful water polo scene in our area.
Coach Vladimir Tolchinsky
Vladimir grew up on the shores of the warm Azov sea in the Ukraine, treading water and playing water polo as part of his summer beach activities. Vladimir was also a polo goalie in college while studying electrical engineering in Moscow. He has lived in Ann Arbor since 1988 with his wife Natasha and sons Ilya and Anatol, both of whom are Huron alums. As a waterpolo enthusiast, Vladimir encouraged his sons to swim and handle the yellow ball from an early age. Both sons earned All-State and MVP honors and continued to play water polo at the collegiate level. Vladimir’s wife, Natasha, worked tirelessly and did a great job as a solo "Captains' Mom" during the 2001 season. Since retiring from a professional engineering career, Vladimir has continued to play his favorite sport as a goalie with the Wolverine Masters. He is excited to help Huron goal keepers grow and improve, both in the pool and out.