PASADENA, Calif. – For the first time since the Institute's founding in 1891, the Caltech Beavers will compete in intercollegiate Marco Polo, the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation announced Monday, April 1, 2024.

An immensely popular sport that uniquely requires nimble swimming, stealthy maneuvering and precise auditory localization, the Caltech Men's and Women's Marco Polo teams will provide another opportunity for student-athletes to compete at a high level while studying and conducting research with some of the world's most brilliant minds.

"After painstakingly reviewing footage from the past season, we noticed several swimmers whose goggles, swim caps, or both were dislodged upon entering the water," Caltech Swim & Dive Head Coach Andy Brabson explained. "The experience of navigating the pool with closed eyes will serve as a strong transferable skill to form the bedrock of this new program."

Strategically considering their complementary experiences and the many crossover skills between swimming, diving, water polo and Marco Polo, Brabson and Water Polo Assistant Coach Lindsay Garcia will assume coaching duties for the men's Marco Polo team, while Water Polo Head Coach Jon Bonafede will pair up with Swim & Dive Assistant Coach Emily Gray to lead the inaugural women's squad.

"50% of the skills in Water Polo can easily be applied to Marco Polo," Bonafede said. "Its mainly the Polo part; players will excel in both sports when they strive for creating space and evading their opponents."

Utilizing their experiences in both existing aquatic sports, Coach Garcia will focus on defensive strategies with swimmers who no longer have to go in a straight line back and forth within a designated lane, and applying water polo goalkeeper techniques to the offensive effort, citing the similarities between shot-blocking movements and quick bursts for tagging "Polo"-shouting defenders when in close range. Coach Gray will place emphasis on adapting swimmers' reaction times on the starting blocks and water polo sprinters' reflexes, aiming to help them elude "fish out of water" calls.
 
"This is fantastic news for all the kids who play pick-up Marco Polo games in our Community Swim sessions," said Heather Morgan-Strasser, Associate Athletics Director for Physical Education and Recreation. "Now they have their own home team to look up to and cheer for!"

"I can't wait!" said Caltech Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Betsy Mitchell. "I only wish we had a team like this when I was in college."
 
Follow Caltech Marco Polo and the other 16 Caltech Beavers intercollegiate teams at GoCaltech.com.