Wheaton News

Women’s and men’s water polo begin competitons

Wheaton has plunged into two new intercollegiate sports in 2024: men’s and women’s water polo. The two sports make the college the second institution, after Stanford, to field intercollegiate sports in artistic swimming, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, and men’s and women’s water polo.

They are among 54 NCAA men’s water polo programs and 63 NCAA women’s teams competing.

Gavin Viano, associate vice president for athletics and strategic programs, is pleased with the progress of the programs. “We have 22 student-athletes from 10 different U.S. States as well as two international student-athletes on our men’s and women’s rosters,” he said.

“Applications from prospective water polo players more than tripled in our second year of recruiting, and we expect these application and enrollment numbers to continue to grow, as Wheaton’s name in the water polo global community becomes more well known.”

The women’s team completed its first season in the spring as a member of the NCAA Division III Collegiate Water Polo Association, playing 13 games against teams from Augustana, Austin, Carthage, Connecticut, Grove City, Macalester, and Washington & Jefferson colleges, and Penn State Behrend.

Nine team members earned All-Academic honors from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches for recording a GPA of at least 3.2. Wheaton’s collective GPA of 3.63 ranked 14th among all NCAA divisions and seventh in Division III.

Sophia Romo ’27, from Jupiter, Fla., led the women’s team with 14 goals and was a Collegiate Water Polo Association All-Conference honorable mention selection.

The men’s team joined the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), an NCAA Division I conference with teams from Augustana, Austin and Washington & Jefferson colleges, Penn State Behrend, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, UCLA and USC.

All 10 members of the men’s squad hail from outside the Bay State, coming from California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, Ohio and Greece. After six games, Spyros Rapsomanikis, from Kerkyra, Greece, led the team and ranked sixth in the MPSF with 19 goals and was tied for the conference lead with 22 steals.

Fourteen regular season games will be followed by the MPSF Championship Tournament in Los Angeles.

Both teams are coached by GT Ladd, who was a standout water polo player at University of Massachusetts Amherst and served as head coach of the Boston College men’s water polo program for seven seasons.

During the 2025–26 academic year, Wheaton’s new men’s and women’s fencing teams and men’s volleyball team will begin play. Combined with the water polo teams, the five programs will bring the total offered at Wheaton to 26—the first teams added since baseball was introduced in 1996.

—By Troy Watkins