Brandon Brooks' decision to return to the U.S. national water polo program paid off yesterday when he was named to the final roster for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Brooks, a 1999 Punahou graduate, is among seven returning Olympians from 2004.

Brooks, 27, was Team USA's starting goalie at Athens, where the Americans finished seventh. He and Merrill Moses are the goalies on this year's 13-player roster.

Brooks won two NCAA Championships at UCLA, where he was a four-time All-American and the school's career saves leader. He also was a walk-on on the Bruin basketball team as a freshman. He came back to the national water polo program in the last year after working on the staffs of UCLA's men's and women's water polo teams.

Brooks is the only player on the U.S. roster who is not from California. His inclusion extends Hawai'i's Olympic water polo streak to six straight Games. Chris Duplanty was a goalie at the Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta Games and Sean Kern played center in Sydney.

The men's team begins competition Aug. 10 against China. It has not won a medal since it captured silver in 1988, with Duplanty as backup goalie.

The U.S. women's and men's teams qualified for the Olympics by winning at last year's Pan American Games. Both also won silver at this year's FINA World League Super Final.

No players with Hawai'i ties were named to the U.S. women's team, but former University of Hawai'i All-Americans Iefke Van Belkum and Meike DeNooy will play for the Netherlands.