As a pro water-polo player in the small nation of Montenegro, Azevedo, one of the stars of the U.S. team that won a surprise silver medal in Beijing, has helped raise over $4,000 for an animal shelter in that country. “People kick kittens out in the street,” says Azevedo, who rescued his cat from the Adriatic Sea. In the pool, Azevedo, 30, is one of 10 U.S. men’s water-polo players returning to the Olympics from the Beijing team. In late May, the U.S. beat Hungary, the 2008 gold-medal winners, 12-9; it was Team USA’s first win over Hungary in a decade. “We’re wiser,” says Azevedo, a Long Beach, Calif., native who starred at Stanford, “and have a bitter taste in our mouth.”