A Twitter Tale: NCAA Women’s Water Polo Coaching Changes

The past two weeks there has been a merry go round of coaching moves among some of the nation’s top water polo programs. The upshot; UCLA, Hawai’i, Loyola Marymount and Princeton were impacted as coaches moved in sync from one opening to the next.

An August 13 Twitter post signaled the carousel’s start. Hawai’i's women’s water polo program said “Mahalo” to head coach James Robinson-O’Brien after his contributions to Rainbow Wahine polo. Clearly, Robinson-O’Brien—who in two years leading Hawai’i' never lost a Big West match (13-0 in regular season play), captured two conference titles and corresponding NCAA women’s water polo berths while compiling an overall record of 33-11 and a .775 winning percentage, the best for a Rainbow Wahine leader—was moving on.

On August 18 Robinson-O’Brien’s destination surfaced on Twitter. He was returning to Westwood. A one-time UCLA men’s player and assistant coach, Robinson-O’Brien had taken the Bruin women’s head coaching reins relinquished last February by Adam Wright. 

An 11-time NCAA champion winner—three as a player, six with the Bruin men and one with the UCLA women as head coach as well as one as an assistant women’s coach—last February Wright stepped down from the year-round grind leading both programs. Jason Falitz and Matt Kubeck stepped in, leading the Bruin women to a 21-5 record before losing to eventual champions USC in the NCAA semifinals.

The next spin of the carousel involved Loyola Marymount, yet another high-profile women’s program. On August 25 Hawai’i's athletic department posted a tweet welcoming Ikaika Aki as the Rainbow Wahine’s new head coach. In plucking Aki from the Lions’ den, Hawai’i tapped one of the most successful young coaches in the sport. In four years leading LMU, Aki’s Lion teams captured back-to-back Golden Coast Conference (GCC) championships in 2025 and 2026, while also qualifying for NCAAs, LMU’s first NCAA berths since 2012.

Aki’s teams compiled an overall record of 70-20—20-0 in GCC regular season play—including win streaks of 15 matches (2026) and 20 (2024). Statistically, Aki’s winning percentage of .778 is the best of any Lion polo coach; this includes Kyle Witt, long-time LMU women’s head coach who over 13 seasons compiled a .619 winning percentage (236-145).

The coaching shift likely ensures Hawai’i will continue as one of the nation’s top collegiate women’s teams. As established by former head coach Maureen Cole (14 seasons, 226-96 record, five NCAA appearances), the Rainbow Wahine are perennial NCAA participants ranked in the top five of all women’s programs. 

[With Curtain Set to Drop on Coaching Career, Maureen Cole Leading Hawaii in Chase of NCAA Water Polo Crown]

Robinson-O’Brien, Cole’s assistant for two seasons before taking over as head coach in 2025, continued his predecessor’s success. Last year the Rainbow Wahine qualified for their 10th NCAA tournament, led by Agatha Weston, Big West Player of the Year.

Now there was a vacancy in Los Angeles; on August 28th Twitter answered the question of who would coach the Lions. Unexpectedly, Princeton University Athletics posted a goodbye to head men’s coach Dustin Litvak. The Tigers, picked to win the Northeast Water Polo Conference for the sixth straight season, open their season next weekend in Annapolis.

That will happen without Litvak, the Princeton men’s head coach and women’s assistant for the past seven years. A Twitter announcement from LMU Athletics confirmed that the former UCLA women’s assistant had returned to Los Angeles to lead the Lions. Assuming the top spot for the Princeton men’s program is Derek Ellingson, long-time Princeton women’s coach who has also served as the men’s assistant stretching back to when Luis Nicolao led the Tiger men and women’s teams.

[Catching up with Princeton’s Luis Nicolao]

Of all the moves—efficiently executed over a span of two weeks—Litvak’s is the most impactful. He had established a winning program at an Ivy League institution focused on traditional sports like basketball, football and soccer. A Pepperdine graduate known for in-depth analysis and attention to detail, Litvak successfully shepherded many international polo athletes through the unforgiving Ivy League admission process, including foreign-born athletes from Spain, Italy, South Africa, Hungary, Croatia and England on the Tigers’ current roster. 

Last year he also orchestrated a complicated exhibition series with European professional clubs Pro Recco and Ferencvaros, two of the world’s leading teams. Working with Philip Hammarskjold, Pro Recco’s co-owner, and David Rodriguez of Asphalt Green, Litvak arranged for the Princeton, UCLA and Fordham men’s teams to play exhibitions in New York City against the professionals on the first weekend of September. The following weekend, during the annual Princeton Invitational, Princeton and UCLA again faced the pros who also again played each other. 

[A Huge Opportunity for New York City Polo. Will We Blow It?]

The Tigers also spent a week training with Pro Recco players and coaches, a tremendous opportunity to develop collegiate athletes’ skills. In past years Pro Recco traveled to California to practice with Cal, Stanford and UCLA; enticing prestigious professional clubs to visit the metropolitan New York City region offered an opportunity to elevate the sport in the East.

By taking a job back home, Litvak decided his water polo future is best in the West. It’s an understandable response but one that leaves the sport on this coast the lesser for his departure.