This will be your go to channel for all things Water Polo Wednesday for the Mens 2025 Collegiate Water Polo Season.
Our first episode is set to drop on Sunday, August 3rd, and will be followed by daily drops of coaches interview EVERY SINGLE DAY for the next 11 days!!!
Life is short, Score GOALS!
Wes and Clay
This is epic!!! Can’t wait to hear what Wes and Clay think about the upcoming season!
Looking forward to you being back. Can you share which coaches will be interviewed?
Yes! We will post the schedule on Sunday when the first episode comes out at 10am. We will then update that same message with hyperlinks to each episode as they are released, 10am every day following that first episode. Hold on to your hats!
HERE WE GO. The FIRST EPISODE OF THE 2025 MENS COLLEGIATE WATER POLO SEASON!!! ENJOY!!!
Episode 3 - Princeton
Episode 4 - Fordham
Episode 5 - Santa Clara
Episode 6 - Cal
Episode 7 - USC
Episode 8 - LMU
Episode 9 - SJSU
Episode 10 - Recruiting Rankings Breakdown, Best Newcomers, Best of the Best
Great S3E1 fellas! Here’s to a future where you are the SportsCenter of water polo and sponsors DO pay you. Following on from some of the topics in today’s show, it would be interesting to hear from the coaches about:
Fordham is in NorCal this week, competing against a lot of california teams. I will be there, excited to see their new squad in action.
HERE WE GO. The FIRST EPISODE OF THE 2025 MENS COLLEGIATE WATER POLO SEASON!!! ENJOY!!!
Episode 3 - Princeton - Leaders of the pack
Episode 4 - Fordham - Can They Reload?!
Episode 5 - Santa Clara - On The Rise!
Episode 6 - Cal - If Some Spaniards Are Good, More Are Better and so much more
Episode 7 - USC - A Serbian MVP
Episode 9 - SJSU - A Phenom In Our Midst
Episode 10 - Recruiting Rankings Breakdown, Best Newcomers, Best of the Best
Ouch, no Americans mentioned as any of the top 10-12 incoming freshman.
Call it quits USAWP. Kids and families will move on to other things.
who are the top 10-12 freshman discussed? thanks in advance!
Brutal. They did say 2026 would be a strong class, but we will see how many are from USA.
No surprise as it’s a relatively weak high school class
Watch it yourself. Give those guys the views.
yeah they could have added top five US born commits. Maybe after week one or two they can do top 5 international newcomers and top 5 US born based off actual performance and production vs decent competition (same division).
Also could add, most improved (second and third year guys)
I’ll start by saying that I have enjoyed Waterpolo Wednesday up until this point. However, after today’s episode, I may never watch another one again, and I encourage others to do the same.
While I was a little disappointed not to see any incoming domestic freshmen such as Gavin Conant (MVP of JO’s) and Otto Stothart (best domestic center in high school water polo), the most disheartening aspect of this episode was the returners list. The title of the episode included “Best of the Best,” not Best at Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC). Ten of the fourteen players on the so-called “best returners” list have recently featured for LAAC. We are forgetting so many key returners.
First and foremost, no Peter Castillo, who just so happens to also be a NYAC lifer? Are we joking, Wes? Where is Ryan Ohl? Oh, wait, he played for NYAC With the way this was going, I am surprised Chase McFarland was not included. What about Ben Leichty? Oh, wait, he happens to play for Scottie too. This is pathetic.
Some of my favorite quotes: “And then we have what I call the big three.” I am sorry, but how is Carsalade in the “big three” of returners when he is not even a top four player on his own team? I love Carsalade and watching him play, he is a great guy, but this is ridiculous. He is the fifth or sixth option at best and sometimes does not even close out games for them. I think even Fernando Carsalade would find this absurd.
“I think Chase Dodd is the most underrated player in America.” We are talking about an Olympic bronze medalist who has continuously represented our country on the biggest stage. The commentary on him is laughable. Another quote — “He’s by far the best field defender I’ve ever seen in the last 27 years.” He’s an incredible defender, but this is blasphemous.
I could go on, but the point is this: I am extremely disappointed and frustrated. Wes, if you want to be successful down the line as a commentator and figure in the water polo community, I recommend taking a civil discourse class at your local university and learning how to remain unbiased and leave personal feelings behind. Wes, I love your enthusiasm, but it needs to go to the right places for this sport to grow…. better better never best, but you need to be A LOT better.
While I’m not ready to blacklist the show, there are some fair thoughts expressed here, imo. None of the Beast Boys or other great class of 2025 up for the conversation? Could be the guys need to watch more local players. It seems most of their exposure is to the international scene.
I can’t really criticize someone with that enthusiasm who is promoting the sport, but you have to understand he speaks with a healthy dose of hyperbole.
The part that I see as most horrific is the returners’ list. Suggesting Szécsi is above Castillo because he gained experience training with the senior team is a stretch after Castillo’s great freshman year and dominant performance at the U20 World Championships. I want to give Wes the benefit of the doubt, as he did an amazing job commentating the World Championships and can be the spark this sport needs to spread water polo across the nation. With that being said, he needs to keep his LAAC bias separate from his podcast. This podcast is for the benefit of LAAC, not for the betterment of college water polo, and water polo in general.
However, in the end, I understand Wes. I’d be mad too if I couldn’t recruit a team to beat a group of 20-year-olds in Senior Nationals.
Well, if the goal of the podcast was to get people talking, then mission accomplished. Wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being their most viewed episode. All about the clicks, baby! Might even end up with more than 100 this time!
But if the goal was to deliver an unbiased, well-researched breakdown, it fell well short of the mark.
As usual, the LAAC bias was off the charts. NorCalDad - I think you actually were actually being conservative in your assessment. To my eye, at least 12 of the 14 players played for, or represent, LAAC. Not to mention the fan boy/man crush vibes that ooze out when certain favorites are being described. The guys they know personally and are nice to them get extra love and they clearly go gooey for certain Euros, particularly Hungarians.
Still trying to decide which episode I disliked more - this one, or the one full of whining about the reffing after the LAAC team of ringers lost to the USA Jnr team at Snr Nationals.