USA Water Polo

Sun-faded California afternoons. Big Texas skies. One game that brings it all together. The 2026 USA Water Polo Junior Olympics design captures the identity of two iconic regions through the lens of water polo culture. Anchored by a central water polo ball, pool, and goal, the artwork blends the unmistakable energy of Southern California, skate culture, surf style, palm trees, classic cars, the Santa Monica Pier, and the LA skyline with legendary Dallas imagery including the McDermott Bridge, Reunion Tower, Texas stars, cowboys, and longhorns. Orange County, CA ⭐ Dallas, TX The road to Junior Olympics 2026 starts now. The first drop of official 2026 Junior Olympics merchandise is now available. Get event-ready early and shop the collection featuring this year’s design. Order Your 2026 JO Gear Now: waterpologear.3dcartstores.com/JO-Items_c_40.… More information on JOs: usawaterpolo.org/sports/2018/12… The Junior Olympics start on July 18! #2026JOs

#ICYMI the 2026 Men's Senior Nationals tournament begins today at the Canyonview Aquatic Center on the campus of UC San Diego. Live streaming of all matches will be available on @OvernghtMedia and live stats can be accessed at @68_sports. usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/12…

On this week’s Counter Attack, @GregMescall spoke with @smcgaels Men's Water Polo assistant coach, Jamie Steingraf about their inaugural season coming in Fall 2026 and the vision they have for the new aquatics program including the Saint Mary’s women's water polo program and more in Moraga, CA a true water polo hotbed in Northern California.

we are fluent in millennial core and Gen Z vibes 🤽🏼‍♂️ 🇺🇸 🤽🏻‍♀️

USA Water Polo is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 National Awards! Established in 2010, the annual awards have each been named in honor of a person or people who have made an extraordinary contribution to the sport of water polo. usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/14…

On this week's Counter Attack we preview the Men's Senior National in San Diego this weekend! Greg Mescall gives us a look at some of the high school water polo championship landscape around the country and we give you a look at the 2026 Junior Olympics logo and merchandise available at WaterPoloGear.com, Hall of Fame on June 19th in Brea, CA and a Big Conversation with Saint Mary's College Men's Water Polo assistant coach, Jamie Steingraf, talks about their inaugural season coming in Fall 2026. That and more on this week's #CounterAttack!

We're excited to announce a multi-year partnership with @NCSA College Recruiting and SportsRecruits, both part of the @IMGAcademy network of services, to empower water polo student-athletes and families with greater access, education, and opportunity in the college recruiting journey. This partnership represents a shared commitment to removing barriers, increasing visibility, and helping student-athletes realize their full potential—both in sport and in life. MORE: usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/14…

A big #waterpolo weekend in Tallahassee is in the books as a high school season pilot program came to a close at Florida State this past Saturday. It's the first step for expanded growth in North Florida and eventually sanctioned @FHSAA play. @abc27 was on the scene to share more about the excitement for water polo!

We're honored to be finalists again this year! #SVGCollegeSportsMediaAwards

We’ve been trying to tell you…she’s legit 🤫

It's the nation's top honor and two of the three finalists come from The Farm! ➡️ stanford.io/4tvMtkk #GoStanford

🚨 BREAKING: @TheOlympicClub has announced the women's finalists for the Peter J. Cutino Award, an iconic honor in @NCAA water polo: ✌️ Emily Ausmus (@USCWaterPolo) 🌲 Juliette Dhalluin (@Stanfordh2opolo) 🌲 Jenna Flynn (@Stanfordh2opolo) usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/13…

Water Polo is growing in North Florida and a regional high school championship was held this past weekend at Florida State University in Tallahassee! Teams from Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Gainesville competed on Saturday. Congratulations to the champions! Girls Champion: Community Christian (Tallahassee) Boys Champion: Episcopal (Jacksonville) We're excited to see the continued growth and addition of teams to the @FHSAA ranks in the years ahead! #JustAddWaterPolo

After a wild ending in the National League championship final, @laacwp and @TheOlympicClub are back in the pool this weekend! The 2026 Men's Senior Nationals head to San Diego with live streaming on @OvernghtMedia and live stats from @68_sports. MORE: usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/12…

USA Women's National Team Assistant Coach Molly Cahill was honored to be selected for the @WorldAquatics Women in Water Polo Leadership Program. Learn more about Molly's journey from NCAA Championship athlete at UCLA to coach at all levels of play, now with @TeamUSA. Congrats Molly! worldaquatics.com/news/4489899/w…

Today on the #WaterPoloPassport... 🇪🇺 @DaubeHannes claims 🥉 at inaugural #waterpoloCFC 🇬🇷 Daube/Weinberg clash in semifinals 🇪🇸 Larsen into semifinals in Spain 🇮🇹 Irving, @SaveljicNicolas, Allen winners MORE: usawaterpolo.org/news/2026/5/11… #TeamUSA | #WaterPolo

Congratulations to Punahou on winning their 17th Hawaii High School State Championship! They defeated Kamehameha 17-4 in the final this past weekend. Synnove Robinson had six goals in the win.

Peter Hudnut, two-time Olympian and 2008 silver medalist, enters the HOF and today is your last chance to purchase tickets with an early bird special: secure.qgiv.com/for/usawaterpo… Born in Washington, D.C., Hudnut eventually settled in Los Angeles with his family. In third grade, he dreamed of being an Olympian, but he didn't know in which sport. Hudnut discovered water polo in seventh grade at Harvard-Westlake School, where he was coached by Rich Corso and later became a three-time All-American, CIF runner-up, and made the US junior national team as a high school senior. With @StanfordMWP, Hudnut helped the Cardinal win two NCAA Championships (in 2001 and 2002) and earned All-American honors on three occasions. Along the way, his Olympic dream started to take shape, but a broken vertebra and back surgery in the summer of 2003 impeded his progress. Despite doing rehab at the side of the pool during every US team practice, he was named an alternate for the 2004 Athens Olympic team. Undaunted, Hudnut returned and helped the US win gold at the 2007 Pan American Games to secure the team a berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In China, Hudnut was part of an epic turnaround that saw the ninth-ranked United States squad become silver medalists in less than a year. With two sets of fresh stitches in his face, Hudnut celebrated the US men's first Olympic medal in 20 years. He briefly retired after Beijing to start graduate school but returned to the pool in 2011 and competed in his second Olympics in London in 2012. Outside of @TeamUSA, Hudnut, now 46, also competed professionally for Barceloneta (Spain) and Lazio (Rome) and made domestic appearances for the Los Angeles Water Polo Club and the New York Athletic Club.

Hear from @TeamUSA attacker Paige Hauschild and center defender Lucy Haaland-Ford on the results of the @WorldAquatics World Cup Division 1 tournament this week in the Netherlands. Team USA went 5-1 in tournament play, booking their ticket to Sydney, Australia this summer for the World Cup Final!

Annika Dries, one of the most formidable centers in US women's water polo history, enters the HOF and you can be there to celebrate! Early bird pricing ends May 11: secure.qgiv.com/for/usawaterpo… From 2009 to 2014, the native of Laguna Beach, California claimed a CIF Southern Section title, a FINA World Cup gold medal, a Pan American Games gold medal, two @NCAA Championship titles at Stanford University, and – at age 20 – helped the US capture its first women's Olympic water polo gold medal in history at the 2012 Games in London. Her journey began in Orange County where Dries joined a junior lifeguard program in Laguna Beach. From there, she competed at the club level for @SETWPC while starring at Laguna Beach High School in both swimming and water polo. While she was playing for the Breakers, one of the smallest high schools in Orange County became the dominant program in the area. Around the same time, she made her international debut at the 2006 Junior Pan Ams in Montreal. After she graduated from high school, she excelled as a member of the women's senior national team, earning 2010 World Cup gold in New Zealand, 2011 Pan American Games gold in Mexico, and finally the 2012 Olympic crown in London. All that was wrapped into a legendary run at @Stanfordh2opolo, where she served as team captain, won two NCAA Championships, was twice named NCAA MVP, and twice earned the Peter J. Cutino Award as the nation's best collegiate player. In 2024, she was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame. After her playing days, Dries, now 34, transferred her drive to the medical field. She earned her M.D. from Stanford and is currently a resident in internal medicine at UCLA Health. Beyond clinical practice, Dries has conducted extensive research in sports cardiology and cardiovascular genetics. She also mentors student-athletes as well as students interested in medicine, and serves as an Olympic ambassador for Swim Across America which hosts open-water swims across the San Francisco Bay to raise funds for cancer research.