Former O.C. all-star Tapia dies of leukemia

Former Saddleback High and Santa Ana College water polo standout Chris Tapia, 25, died Sunday of acute leukemia, his sister, Maria, confirmed.

Tapia had not felt well in recent weeks and saw his doctor Friday, Maria said.

His death stunned Saddleback’s close-knit water polo community. About 20 players visited Tapia at Fountain Valley Regional hospital.

“It was a shock,” said former Saddleback boys water polo coach Monte McCord, who coached Tapia in high school. “He was a really good player and a good guy.”

Tapia, the youngest of four children, followed two of his siblings into water polo and developed into a standout. He was Golden West League MVP in 2002 and 2003 for Saddleback.

The Roadrunners won the league titles both seasons and advanced to the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals.

Tapia also played in the 2003 Orange County all-star match for top seniors.

After high school, he played two seasons at Santa Ana College. He was later an assistant boys and girls coach at Saddleback. Tapia also served as a volunteer assistant to McCord with the Orange Coast College men’s water polo team in 2008.

Tapia had recently started coaching at Segerstrom, where his nephew, Julian, plays water polo.

“He’s going to be sorely missed by a lot of people,” McCord said. “Everybody loved him.”

Tapia also taught swim lessons part-time through the YMCA at Santa Ana’s Jerome pool. “(He) was born to coach,” Maria said.

The funeral will be held Friday at St. Anne church in Santa Ana at 11:30 a.m. Tapia is survived by his parents, Jose, and, Elena, brothers, Jose, and Alejandro, and sister, Maria.