USA Water Polo Announces Legacy Crown Event in November
USA Water Polo this week unveiled the new Legacy Crown event in November to mark the 25th anniversary of the inclusion of women’s water polo in the Olympics.
The two-day event will be held in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Nov. 15-16. It will, “celebrate women’s water polo and people in the community who have helped foster growth, excellence, and opportunity,” featuring collegiate teams, elite club squads and USA Water Polo academy squads.
Reigning NCAA champion Stanford will headline the college portion. Other programs included in the event are UCLA, USC, California, Hawaii, Arizona State, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Fresno State and UC San Diego.
The club side will feature elite clubs like New York Athletic Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Olympic Club based in San Francisco. A full schedule is to be announced.
The winning team will receive the inaugural Legacy Crown championship trophy. Awards will be given out for most valuable player, best goalkeeper, leading scorer, top defensive player and rising star.
The event will take place at Orange Coast College and Costa Mesa High School. Admission for the weekend events are free, with livestreaming via overnight.com/the Overnght app and stats via 6-8sports.com.
“We are honored to bring together some of the most elite collegiate and club programs in the country for the inaugural Legacy Crown,” USA Water Polo’s women’s national team head coach Adam Krikorian said in a press release. “Our vision is for this to become an annual tradition—one that celebrates the legacy of women’s water polo while embracing the relentless competitive spirit that defines our sport. We can’t wait to see who will rise and claim the Crown!”
Men’s water polo is one of the oldest team sports in the Olympics, introduced in 1900. It took another century for the women’s tournament to debut on the international stage in 2000 in Sydney. The U.S. won the silver medal at that first Olympics. It has finished no worse than fourth at the seven Olympics to feature women’s water polo, with three gold (2012, 2016, 2021), two silver (2000, 2008) and one bronze (2004) medal.
