SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Russ Hafferkamp and Aaron Chaney, teammates on the 1976 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team, each became hall of famers in the place they grew up this month, with Hafferkamp going into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame on Sept. 16 and Chaney the Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame on Sept. 1. Both men are also in the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
 
Hafferkamp made the most of his single season as a Gaucho, scoring 86 goals as part of an All-American campaign in 1976, which remains the fourth-most by any man to don Santa Barbara's Blue and Gold. The Santa Barbara native then spent four years with the USA National Men's Water Polo team, from 1977 to 1980, and has remained deeply connected to USA Water Polo since. After his first coaching job, overseeing the Gauchos' freshman squad in 1975, Hafferkamp went on to win conference titles as the head coach of UC San Diego and Cal Poly, then went to Australia and skippered Tasmania's State Men's Water Polo team. As a player, Hafferkamp is an eight-time National Champion in USA Water Polo's Open Division and 26-time Masters Division Champion.
 
The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table has supported student athletes in both high school and college in the greater Santa Barbara area for over 50 years, and their Hall of Fame honors and acknowledges athletes, coaches, community leaders and others and pays tribute to a legacy of special achievements in the Santa Barbara sports community. All the way back in 1976, Hafferkamp received the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table's Outstanding Athlete Award and now holds a place in their Hall of Fame.
 
Chaney was just a freshman when he and Hafferkamp were teammates in 1976, and he would go on to win UC Santa Barbara its first NCAA National Championship as a senior in 1979. Chaney was an important piece of that 1979 Gaucho squad and featured in the 11-3 title-winning victory over UCLA, but he has left far more of a legacy in the sport as a referee. Following his graduation from UC Santa Barbara, Chaney returned to his home state of Hawaii but remained close to water polo as both a coach and official. He would go on to work both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, including calling the 2004 men's semifinal. He also officiated at four World Aquatics Championships, highlighted by two medal matches. Chaney was named USA Water Polo Referee of the Year in 2004 and has officiated at 30 NCAA Championships, refereeing the National Championship match at 15 of them. He is the namesake for USA Water Polo's annual Distinguished Referee Award.
 
Chaney is a member of just the seventh class in Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame history, and the first water polo referee inducted. The Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame was founded and inducted its first-ever class in 2018, with the purpose of promoting positive public awareness of officials and their value to sports by recognizing and honoring Hawaii sports officials who have demonstrated "the highest level of achievement, character, leadership, skill and commitment-to-officiating over a significant period of time."