This summer, Occidental announced that Lindsey Garcia, an Eagle Rock native and former assistant coach at Cal Tech, will be the new coach for men’s and women’s water polo. Garcia said she started playing water polo after trying swimming, then joined a team at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center just six miles from Occidental.
“I got really lucky,” Garcia said. “Rose Bowl Water Polo Club at the time was really up-and-coming and a really good club for water polo. I had amazing coaches there.”
According to Garcia, she started coaching younger teams in high school at Rose Bowl Water Polo Club and fell in love with the coaching process. After high school, Garcia played Division I water polo at California State University Northridge. Right after she graduated in 2019, Garcia joined California Institute of Technology as an assistant coach.
“I was kind of like ‘I really like coaching, so I’m going to stick with this as long as I can make it work.’ And so far, I’ve made it work,” Garcia said.
She also said she worked with the water polo Olympic Development Program for two years, and just this summer, she coached the USA Youth National team in Greece.
According to Garcia, as someone who grew up in Eagle Rock, her connection to the area is part of what brought her to Occidental.
“It’s kind of home for me. Eagle Rock High School actually graduates at the Greek amphitheater back here,” Garcia said. “When I was in high school I got tutored here, and my tutor was an Oxy student.”
Garcia said her time as a college student and water polo athlete influenced her decision to coach for a Division III school.
“Playing at Division I and then seeing Division III, you still have that great competitive aspect, but you have a much healthier student life balance. And I think that’s something really beautiful,” Garcia said.
Water Polo assistant coach Joe Cox ’22 said he and Garcia both coached at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center this summer.
“We spent most of the summer working together, planning for recruiting, how we were going to be successful in the fall and planning preseason for the women’s team […] so that we could come in ready to go on day one,” Cox said.
Cox said that he’s learned a lot from Garcia even in a short time, from tactical and fundamental skills to adapting his coaching to the specific needs of each player.
According to Kevin Castellanos (first year) on the men’s team, Garcia’s knowledge helps players improve their skills.
“She really develops everyone in their own unique way,” Castellanos said. “She helps our weaknesses by telling us that our hands need to be a little higher, or hips need to be a little higher, because she just knows so much about the game that she tells us individually what we need to be better.”
With 10 returning veterans and 11 new players joining the team this fall, Cox and Garcia said that a good team connection and positive atmosphere are essential for a successful season.
“We just had our first tournament out at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and it was awesome,” Cox said. “The guys had four really good games, but most importantly, they had a really great time getting to travel and hang out together.”
The Occidental men’s water polo team played four games at the Navy Open Tournament Sept. 7—8.
Garcia said that the team had two good wins against Division I teams, and she feels that the other two games had great growth moments and helped her get an idea of what the season will look like.
“We played Navy, and we kind of had a bad quarter against them,” Garcia said. “We regrouped and refocused and came together as a team and we played a really good second half against them. I’m really proud of how mature and how well our team is making in-game adjustments.”
Oliver Wilkins (senior) said Garcia has a good rapport with the team.
“I think she does a good job of creating a relaxed atmosphere when it’s not necessary to be doing something too serious,” Wilkins said.
Garcia said that her goal for the men’s team is to play in the postseason and get to the Division III national championship.
For the women’s team, who unexpectedly switched coaches last season, Garcia said she is looking to restructure practices and move two positions higher in their ranking than last year.
Women’s team player Norah Ruvalcaba (senior) said that she was part of the interview process for coaches and had admired Garcia’s dedication in coaching other teams.
“We were extremely happy when the email came out that she was picked,” Ruvalcaba said.
According to Ruvulcaba, the first women’s team practice went extremely well.
“I can feel so much hope in the pool, because it’s such a new coach,” Ruvalcaba said. “It was really nice to have someone who was like, ‘I want to completely switch it up.’”
Coach Garcia said she feels confident in both the men’s and women’s teams this year.
“They’re really talented athletes, and I feel like the buy-in from them has been incredible,” Garcia said. “I’m really excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”
Contact Virginia Tomlinson at gtomlinson@oxy.edu
Great engaging article!