Water Polo: The man beside the water’s edge

If there’s one thing you should understand about men’s and women’s water polo head coach Luis Nicolao, it’s that he certainly doesn’t need an article published about him to prove his success. His numerous accolades — perhaps topped by the men’s water polo team’s third-place finish in this year’s NCAA Championships — essentially speak for themselves, though his players are happy to chip in their praise.

Indeed, the one-time National Men’s Coach of the Year, two-time Eastern Men’s Coach of the Year, two-time Eastern Women’s Coach of the Year, three-time Southern Men’s Coach of the Year and three-time Southern Women’s Coach of the Year has had his fair share of triumph on the pool deck. He is known as one of the most intense coaches in collegiate water polo, and his reputation precedes him as far as opponents are concerned, though Tigers know him more as a fun-loving and dedicated leader.

Under Nicolao’s tenure, now in its 12th year, Princeton’s squads have remained two of the top teams on the East Coast. Earlier this month, the men’s side finished its season with the best year-end result ever for a Tiger team. The squad came in third nationally in its home pool after posting a performance that senior left attack Eric Vreeland said was “definitely the highlight of my career.”

“To maybe go down as the highest-finishing team in Princeton water polo history is great,” he added, giving due credit to Nicolao.

The women’s team has also been doing well recently, finishing second at the Eastern Championships as recently as 2007. Last year, it ended its season with a sixth-place finish at Easterns, though its new season begins after exams.

For Nicolao, though, this success is almost expected. He won the Naval Academy’s Athletic Association Sword as the top male athlete upon graduation, and both of his parents were world record-holding swimmers, so Nicolao grew up with success in the pool in mind.

“Any coach has a desire to win,” he explained. “But from the day I started swimming, from when I was 8 years old, I have always been very competitive.”

Still, Nicolao’s intensity has not stopped him from acting like a family member to his players. “My philosophy is: It’s a game,” he said. “We want to win any game we can, but we know that some days it’s not going to happen. But not letting that get us down [is important], giving our best effort.”

“We do a good job of keeping it as a family atmosphere and knowing that we all go through this together,” he added. “You forget the wins and losses, but you remember the relationships.”

Nicolao’s players, who call him by his first name, tend to agree. His squads may be among the better ones on the East Coast, but his program stresses their development out of the pool just about as much as their development in it.

The hordes of alumni who came out to DeNunzio Pool to support the men’s water polo team at the Final Four serve as testament to the familial atmosphere created by Nicolao’s attitude.

“He has a great relationship with all the players,” Vreeland explained. “There are players that have been gone for 10 years, [and] they’re still very much a part of the team … When I meet alumni from Princeton water polo, it’s like we’re part of the same family and Luis is the head of that family.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Nicolao’s ease in interacting with his players like peers manifested itself, for example, in the women’s water polo team’s ongoing prank war.

“Right now, I’d say we’re winning,” senior utility Phoebe Champion said. “The last big event was April Fool’s [Day] last year. Let’s just say we got him good.”

Still, Nicolao maintains his pranking supremacy. “I always promise I can get the last laugh on them,” he explained. “When you’re on a four-hour bus ride to Bucknell, it can get kind of tedious, [so I’m] always trying to create different rooming lists, pulling little jokes on them on the bus.”

And, he said, he hears his fair share of “juicy rumors.”

Champion voiced a similar sentiment. “He just knows a lot more about us than we realize,” she said. “We’re always like, ‘How did he know that?’ He’ll surprise us.”

But even when he isn’t joking around with his teams, Nicolao acts very much like a family member would, entertaining players over holidays and hosting regular meals at his home.

“We have to stay here for Fall Break, and he invites the team over numerous times to his house for home-cooked meals,” Vreeland said. “When we had to stay over for Thanksgiving, if anyone didn’t have a place to go, he would immediately offer his home up.”

Nicolao explained that his friendly attitude with the teams is all a part of his larger scheme for Princeton water polo. “I’m a firm believer that we don’t need to do more than two hours per day [in the pool],” he explained. “Water polo’s not going to pay your bills at 30. It’s a degree [that will].”

“I try to keep it as fun as I can,” he added. “Both of these teams have so much everyday stress, [and] I don’t need to be any more stress to their lives.”

Vreeland suggested that this mindset is one of the reasons both teams have been so successful as of late. “You’re obviously going to want to perform and do a better job for someone you enjoy being coached by.”