A chiropractor who also was coach of the U.S. Olympic men's water polo team helped the group to win the silver medal in Beijing, in a match against Hungary, by providing members with daily chiropractic adjustments.

"I can honestly say that without chiropractic, many Olympic athletes would not be able to perform to their potential," said Merrill Moses, the team's goalkeeper. "We take such a pounding on our bodies, especially in water polo, because it's a contact sport. I like to get a chiropractic adjustment every day just to keep my body healthy."

The team's head coach, Terry Schroeder, was a medal-winning Olympic athlete himself. He took the silver medal in water polo twice - and then went on to become a doctor of chiropractic. By encouraging teamwork, vigorous training and frequent chiropractic treatments from himself and the four practicing Olympic Committee team chiropractors in the Olympic Village, Schroeder turned an underdog water-polo team into a medalist.

"Athletes know that the difference between winning and losing can be a matter of fractions," the coach said. "When looking for that edge, chiropractic often makes all the difference. I believe that chiropractic is going to continue to be of growing importance in the Olympic world."

Schroeder was inducted into the U.S.A. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1998. As a commemoration of the 1984 Olympics, a statue of him has been placed just outside the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Moses was so impressed with his coach that he, too, plans to become a chiropractor, and invest his life in helping others.

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