The NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Beginning in 1969, it has been held every year except 2020, when it was postponed to March 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a limited number of NCAA water polo programs at the national level, all men's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year. The tournament was expanded from a four-team bracket in 2013 by adding two play-in games that are contested by the bottom four seeds, effectively creating a six-team bracket with a first-round bye for the top two teams.
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 119 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
Coralie Denise Simmons is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2001, she won the Peter J. Cutino Award, presented annually to the top American collegiate water polo player. Simmons is currently in her third season as the women's water polo coach at the University of California, Berkeley, after nine seasons as the head coach at Sonoma State University. She was born in Hemet, California.
Natalie Golda is a former American water polo player and currently the head coach of the newly formed Fresno State Bulldogs water polo team to begin competition in 2018. Considered one of the greatest women's water polo players of all time, her senior leadership helped guide the 2005 UCLA Bruins to their seventh national championship. In May 2005 Golda received the Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the best player in women's collegiate water polo. She was also a member of the US Water Polo Team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2015, she was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Kelly Kristen Rulon is an American water polo player. She won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the water polo competition. She is also a bronze medalist from the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her position is driver.
Adam Krikorian is an American water polo coach and the head coach of the United States women's national water polo team. He coached the team to gold medals at both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2016 Olympic Games. He was named the United States Olympic Committee's Coach of the Games for 2016. He won 15 NCAA national championships as player, assistant coach, and head coach at UCLA.
Courtney Lynn Kaiulani Mathewson is an American water polo player, part of the US team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She played water polo for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins during their four-consecutive NCAA National Champion Women's Water Polo championships, and was named to the All-Tournament first team. At UCLA, she majored in sociology.
Brandon Brooks, who played water polo as a goalie for UCLA and the 2004 and 2008 United States National teams, was the head coach of the women's water polo team at UCLA until 2017. The women's team won the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, and one of his players, Courtney Mathewson, captured the Peter J. Cutino Award as the player-of-the year in 2008.
Jillian Amaris Kraus is a water polo player. She won a gold medal in the 2005 Junior World Championships, won four straight NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships with UCLA, and has played with the United States women's national water polo team.
Steve Klosterman is a volleyball coach, currently Assistant at Hofstra University, a 2-time NCAA All American, NCAA Championship MVP, Puerto Rican Superior League Championship MVP, and former international player from the United States. He finished UCLA as the #1 points producer in the “rally scoring” era, and 4th overall in the long history of the most dominant collegiate men's program in the sport that's won 19 NCAA Championships.
Guy Baker was the head coach for the United States women's national water polo team competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. He is now the Director Of Olympic Development of USA Water Polo. Baker had guided the team to a silver medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics, becoming one of the most successful water polo coach in Olympic history. In 2018, he was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Jessica Marie Steffens is an American water polo player. She was a member of the United States national teams that won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also played at Stanford University.
Tanya Gandy, played water polo for UCLA on four of the five-consecutive NCAA National Champion Women's Water Polo teams and was named to the All-Tournament first team. She attended Rancho Bernardo High School.
The Spieker Aquatics Center is a 2,500-capacity stadium in Los Angeles, California used by UCLA water polo, swimming, and diving teams. The $14-million center was built in 2009 and is named for Tod and Catherine Spieker. Tod was a student-athlete at UCLA, competing from 1968–1971 in swimming.
Chay Thomas Lapin is an American water polo goalkeeper. While playing at the University of California, Los Angeles, he set the school's all-time saves record. He also played for the United States national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Tumuaialii "Tumua" Anae is an American water polo goalkeeper. She was an NCAA champion and All-American while playing for the University of Southern California. She also won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with the United States national team.
Anna Espar Llaquet is a Spanish water polo player who won the gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. She also won the silver medal at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Joshua Martin Kugler Samuels is a water polo player from the United States. He played for the United States men's national water polo team that won a gold medal in water polo at the 2015 Pan American Games, and competed for the team in the 2016 Summer Olympics, which finished in tenth place.
Alex Wolf is an American water polo player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The 2021 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from December 4–5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California at the Spieker Aquatics Center. This was the 53rd NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Seven teams participated in this championship. Opening round game-one was played at Princeton University. The UCLA Bruins were the defending national champions and the 2021 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champions. The rankings before the tournament: No. 1 University of California, No. 2 University of Southern California, No. 3 University of California Los Angeles, No. 4 Stanford University, No. 5 Long Beach State University.
