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University of the Pacific's men's water polo will move to West Coast Conference in 2023

shannon mia belt, the record
·2 min read
University of the Pacific Jonathan Barry (1A) blocks a goal attempt during the third quarter in the NCAA water polo championship Dec. 8, 2019, against Stanford at Pacific's Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
University of the Pacific Jonathan Barry (1A) blocks a goal attempt during the third quarter in the NCAA water polo championship Dec. 8, 2019, against Stanford at Pacific's Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

Beginning in the fall 2023 season, the University of the Pacific’s men’s water polo team will be joining the West Coast Conference. This announcement comes after years of domination in the Golden Coast Conference which had the Tigers competing with Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State and Pepperdine.

"Game changing would be an understatement,"  Pacific’s men's water polo head coach James Graham said in a news release. “This is monumental for not only Pacific men's water polo but collegiate water polo as well. To be able to have the WCC as an official men's water polo conference is absolutely huge."

Pacific has long been known for its water polo program both on the men’s and women’s sides. In 2013 the men’s team made it to the NCAA championship game but fell short against USC. In 2019, the Tigers were runner-ups in the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, they finished the season ranked seventh in the CWPA men’s varsity polls. Dynamic junior-sophomore duo Jeremie Cote and Reuel D'Souza led Pacific to a 10-12 overall finish.

Along with the team’s success, a factor in Pacific's move to the WCC was help from its athletic director Janet Lucas, deputy director athletics Wes Yourth and Pacific President Christopher Callahan. All three faculty were proponents of bringing water polo to the conference.

“The stability that the WCC will provide these teams and the sport of men's water polo will broaden the national exposure and stature of the sport," Lucas said in a news release.

Pepperdine and San Jose State will join the Tigers in the move to WCC. All three teams will have an opportunity to showcase the highly skilled teams to come out of the GCC.

“It's always exciting to have a change, especially in conference opponents, but wherever we play our goals remain the same: to win a conference championship and to win a national championship," D’Souza said.

Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at recordnet.com/subscribenow. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: Pacific Tigers men's water polo will move to West Coast Conference