Matthew Barnard - (Author)

USA Water Polo Selecting Jamie Davis, of USA Volleyball, as New CEO For just the second time in two decades, USA Water Polo, the national governing body for the sport in the United States, is hiring a new CEO. After 18 years—currently the longest tenure of any NGB leader in the country—Chris Ramsey ...

As U.S. Women's Water Polo Seeks Another Gold, Change is Part of the Game A quick scan of the U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team roster for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is disorienting. Not only is Makenzie Fischer not among the final group announced last week; her sister Aria is not listed eit...

Cal Sweeps Cutino Awards: Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Isabel Williams Top Collegiate Water Polo Athletes The Olympic Club in downtown San Francisco turned into a hometown hootenanny as the local Cal Golden Bears swept the awards for the best male and female water polo players in collegiate play.  In capt...

A Look at the Cutino Finalists For College Water Polo Players of the Year The 2023-24 Cutino Award finalists for the top collegiate men and women water polo athletes in America are in. Like the NCAA men’s and women’s finals, this year’s Cutino prospects are a replay of Cal versus UCLA matchups with ...

Taylor Swift Show Gives U.S. Women's Water Polo a Sneak Peek of Paris Olympics Venue What happens when you put Paris, the U.S. national women’s water polo team and mega pop superstar Taylor Swift together? A night to remember for all and perhaps a precursor to what may be Olympic history. Earlier th...

It’s on! Competition for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Championship opens May 9, with all matches to be held at Spieker Aquatics Center at the University of California, Berkeley. On Monday all nine spots for NCAAs were confirmed after months of fierce competition.  Six berths were decided by last weekend’s ...

Freshman Goalie Lauren Steele Has Had Immediate Impact for Top-Ranked UCLA Women's Water Polo Reading through the women’s water polo stat sheet from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, few UCLA players’ names appear. Not in the lists for goals or assists or points, stats you might assume tell a ...

Princeton Rallies for 2024 CWPA Women’s Water Polo Title On Houlahan’s Last-Minute Goal With a 10-9 win over Michigan yesterday at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool, Princeton women’s water polo captured their second-straight Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) title and their sixth title in program hist...

As NCAA Women's Water Polo Tourney Nears, There's Jockeying For Postseason Momentum Is it possible that one of the Big Four does not qualify for this year’s NCAA Women’s Tournament? It happened in 2016 when Cal didn’t make the cut. Barring a major upset—Hawai’i losing early in the Big West tournamen...

In a typical year, it would be obvious who the top contenders are for the best female collegiate water polo player in America. The criterion is usually: Are they on a top four (or five) team in the CWPA rankings? Is their team a legitimate contender for an NCAA title?  Do they play for Stanford? I m...

Unbeaten UCLA Stays Atop Women's Water Polo Poll; LMU Makes Big Jump The past two weeks, a number of teams have faced conference opponents in matches with postseason implications. Nowhere more significant was the contest between Fresno State and Loyola Marymount on March 23. Picked #1 and #2 in the ...

For Now, Wagner Claims New York Water Polo Bragging Rights With Win Over LIU BROOKLYN, NY. In a rematch of last year’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s water polo championship final, Wagner College, for a decade the MAAC’s top team, crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island t...

An Interview With UCI Water Polo Coach Dan Klatt; Compassion a Hallmark of Veteran Leader IRVINE, CA. Water polo will never be mistaken for a kumbaya-kind of athletic experience. It’s physically and emotionally draining. But those who care most about the sport—especially coaches—have tremendous comp...

Unbeaten UCLA Remains Atop College Women's Water Polo Poll; Hawaii Holds at No. 2 The Collegiate Water Polo Association poll for women’s varsity play has not seen much change these past few weeks, especially at the top. UCLA, Hawai’i, Stanford, Cal and USC have been in roughly the same spots for a m...

Coach Adam Wright Guiding Weighs in on Guiding UCLA's Powerful Water Polo Programs HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA. Spending time with Adam Wright, UCLA men’s and women’s water polo head coach, is like being in the company of a powerful politician. Wright is surrounded by success; there’s Chase and Ryder Dodd,...

UCLA Stays Atop Women's Water Polo Poll After Claiming Kalbus Invitational Title Last weekend, nine of the nation’s top ten teams traveled to Irvine, CA—only Princeton declined a spot in the 2024 Barbara Kalbus Invitational—offering a prime opportunity to evaluate NCAA title contenders. Fresno State...

Dodd Brothers - Chase and Ryder - Hoping to be Part of Team USA Trip to Paris Olympics Chase and Ryder Dodd—brothers and fellow UCLA Bruin water polo players—are chasing the biggest roster spot in U.S. men’s water polo: Representing America at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They have played together for m...

NEWPORT BEACH, CA. In sports, as in life, it’s always best to walk away while you’re ahead. In the case of Maureen Cole, head coach for the Hawai’i women’s water polo team, she’s determined to finish her gig by leading the Rainbow Wahine to the greatest season in their history. And then leaving with...

South Africa Turns Down Olympic Water Polo Bids; Romania (Men) and Canada (Women) Claim Spots In a surprising development, Swimming South Africa (SSA) pulled its men’s and women’s water polo teams from the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. SSA chief executive Shaun Adriaanse told the Daily Maver...

Kalbus Invitational Highlights Spectacular Weekend of Water Polo Action The Barbara Kalbus Invitational—previously known as the UCI Invitational—is the most competitive tournament of the women’s NCAA regular season. It is an invitational, and nine of the nation’s current top-10 teams—and 13 of the t...