Currently a research assistant with UC Davis' renowned Department of Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior and a former player and assistant coach on the Spanish National Team, Yurema Sabio enters her first year as an assistant coach for Daniel Leyson in the fall of 2017.
Sabio brings expertise from all three standpoints of playing, coaching and academics. She graduated from Universitat de Barcelona's National Institute of Physical Education, or INEFC, in 2007. Sabio subsequently added a master's degree in physical education and health from Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia in 2008, national coaching certifications for swimming and water polo in 2009 and 2014; then added her Ph.D from Universitat Ramon Llull Blanquerna in 2016. For that final degree, she successfully defended a thesis examining the water polo final at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, held in her hometown of Barcelona.
Sabio competed for Team Spain at European Championships in Emmen, Netherlands (2003) and Bari, Italy (2004); Junior World Championships in Calgary, Alberta (2003) and Perth, Australia (2005); and most notably, the 11th FINA World Championships in Montreal, Quebec (2005).
During and after her playing career, she began teaching and coaching aquatics at Club Natació Montjuic in Barcelona, then later became a professor in water polo for Federació Catalana de Natació and Universitat de Barcelona. Not only did Sabio teach water polo courses, but she even taught P.E. courses for those aspiring to teach the sport. Furthermore, she has coached both boys and girls aged 13-20 with the FCN. Most of these players eventually populate future rosters of the Spanish National Team, for which she served as an assistant coach. She helped Spain to a runner-up showing at the 2013 Euro Junior WPCs in Istanbul, Turkey; then matched that finish at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2015.
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