News & Events

The visit locations, ranging from Stanford to San Diego, will see Team USA athletes meeting with fans, taking pictures, signing autographs, and participating in a variety of events unique to each retail location. Life-size cutouts of USA Water Polo athletes will be on display, along with additional signage, throughout the months of April and May at each of the locations to promote the visits which are designed to generate excitement for California's home state Olympic Team, as they prepare for London this summer.

All members of the USA Water Polo National Teams will be spread out across nine malls, with many athletes returning to their hometowns and surrounding areas. The athletes are scheduled to be at the following retail locations:

Brea Mall (Brea, CA) - 11am-1pm - Courtney Mathewson, Lolo Silver, Layne Beaubien*, Peter Varellas*, Andy Stevens
Del Amo Fashion Center (Torrance, CA) - 10am-noon - Kami Craig*, Merrill Moses*, Adam Wright*, Jeff Powers*
Fashion Valley (San Diego, CA) - 11am-1pm - Tanya Gandy, Kelly Rulon*, Brian Alexander, Janson Wigo
Laguna Hills Mall (Laguna Hills, CA) - 10am-noon - Annika Dries, Betsey Armstrong*, Chay Lapin, Peter Hudnut*
Stanford Shopping Center (Palo Alto, CA) - noon-2pm - Juliet Moss, Jessica Steffens*, Melissa Seidemann
Stoneridge Shopping Center (Pleasanton, CA) - noon - 2pm - Heather Petri*, Maggie Steffens
The Shops at Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA) - 10am-noon - Lauren Wenger*, Jeff Tyrrell, Shea Buckner, Tony Azevedo*
The Shops at Montebello (Montebello, CA) - noon-2pm - Brenda Villa*, Sami Hill, JW Krumpholz*, Jesse Smith*, John Mann
Westminster Mall (Westminster, CA) - 10am - noon - Elsie Windes*, Tumua Anae, Ryan Bailey*, Tim Hutten*
* Olympic Medalist

Please visit Simon.com for more information on the individualized, kid-centric activities taking place at each mall location, ranging from craft projects, to fitness programming to face-painting. Click here for a full schedule, including times that athletes will be on hand.

In addition, one lucky mall-goer will win a trip for two to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, courtesy of Simon Property Group, USA Water Polo and Holiday Inn. From April 1 through May 28, visitors to any of the nine featured Simon Property Group Malls, as well as the Hilltop Mall in Richmond, CA, will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to attend the year's biggest sporting event. Holiday Inn, the official hotel of USA Water Polo, will be providing a complimentary five night stay, including upgraded accommodations, in a package that includes replica USA Water Polo team warm-ups, tickets to water polo matches in London, and $2000 in American Express® gift cards from Simon Property Group. The winner will be selected on May 30. To enter, just visit Simon Guest Services at any of the participating locations. There is no purchase necessary to enter, and more details are available at simon.com.

“Excitement is building toward this summer’s Olympic Games and we wanted to create a way for the community to get to know our water polo Olympians,” stated USA Water Polo CMO Jen Rottenberg. “Simon Property Group is the perfect partner. With dozens of properties within our ‘home state’ of California, they are creating unique and energizing ways for fans to connect with our athletes!”

"We are very excited to host the USA Water Polo teams throughout our California properties," said Lynn Castle, VP Marketing West Region, Simon Property Group. “We’re proud of how far the teams have come, and we welcome the opportunity to support them as they head into the summer Olympics in London.”

The USA Water Polo National Teams are among the top teams in the world of international water polo. Both are ranked in the top ten and both won Silver Medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Gold Medal winners at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, the teams have each earned a berth to the 2012 Olympic Games, set for this summer in London, England.

About Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) is an S&P 100 company and the largest real estate company in the world.  The Company currently owns or has an interest in 337 retail real estate properties in North America and Asia comprising 245 million square feet as well as a 29% interest in Klépierre, a publicly-traded French REIT with a portfolio of approximately 270 shopping centers in 13 countries in Europe.  We are headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employ more than 5,000 people worldwide.  For more information, visit the Simon Property Group website at www.simon.com.

About USA Water Polo
USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters National Championships. With more than 40,000 members, USAWP is also the sanctioning authority for more than 500 Member Clubs and more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport nationwide. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.

About IHG
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® . IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty program with almost 60 million members worldwide.

IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms and IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, a portfolio of over 4,400 hotels and more than 656,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world.

IHG has more than 1,100 hotels in its development pipeline and expects to recruit around 160,000 people worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter www.twitter.com/ihgplc or YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ihgplc

Official USA Water Polo Sponsors & Suppliers
24 Hour Fitness, Active Media, American Pistachios, Aquahydrate, Athleta, Bare Fruit Snacks, Beachside Produce, Big Fish Payroll Services, Capital One, Colorado Time Systems, Deckside Pools, H2O Audio, Intercontinental Hotels Group, iSport, Jamba Juice, Jostens, Kaenon, Katin USA, KT Tape, Ludus Tours, Malibu Wellness, Mikasa, Napa Smith Brewery, Nestlé  Nesquik, Ospraie Management, PowerBar, Pro-form Mouthguards, REUSE Jeans, Sea Air Federal Credit Union, Special Event Contractors, Squar Milner, Stemilt, SwimOutlet.com, TRX, TURBO, United, U.S.Navy SEALs, VIDA Organic Life Massage & Water Marque.