LOS ANGELES—
Luca Cupido still remembers his experiences playing for the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team more than a decade ago.
Cupido brought an electricity to the Sailors when, as a high school senior, he moved to Newport Beach from his native Italy in 2013.
During a Battle of the Bay match against rival Corona del Mar at the Sailors’ pool, he met an 8-year-old super-fan named Finn LeSieur, donned in sunglasses, a swim cap and Speedo and using the Italian flag as a cape.
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“I haven’t been there in a bit, but I remember the little kid Finn,” Cupido said Tuesday with a smile. “He was part of that [Newport Harbor] team that won recently, so it’s like, how time flies.”
LeSieur will be a college sophom*ore at Princeton this fall and was indeed a part of the Sailors’ back-to-back CIF Southern Section Open Division titles in 2021 and 2022.
Huntington Beach High School graduate Chase Dodd smiles as his younger brother Ryder Dodd is announced as part of the 2024 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team on Tuesday.
(James Carbone)
Time does pass quickly. For Cupido, he’s now a three-time Olympian.
Cupido and the Dodd brothers, Chase and Ryder, were among the 13 members of the U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team named during an event Tuesday at République Café Bakery & Restaurant in Los Angeles.
Cupido, now 28, remains an electric player and is one of the most experienced players on the team, which will bring 10 returning Olympians to Paris this summer. He is one of four three-time Olympians on the roster, along with captain Ben Hallock, Alex Bowen and Alex Obert.
Cupido has dual citizenship and played professionally in his native Italy this past year, with CC Ortigia. He also got married two years ago to his wife Courtney, who played lacrosse in college.
The 2024 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team poses for a picture during a media event announcing the official roster for the Paris Olympics at Republique Cafe Bakery & Republique Restaurant in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
(James Carbone)
“It’s a blessing,” Luca Cupido said of hearing his name called for another Olympics. “You learn every time. You have to learn your body, how to approach the games so you can get better prepared. I think I’ve gotten to a point now where I’m both mentally and physically ready to approach the best games.”
Chase Dodd, 21, took his junior year off from UCLA to prepare for the Olympics. Along with his younger brother, the Huntington Beach High graduate recently spent a couple of months training in Italy with the club team of Olympic teammate Max Irving.
The Dodds are the first set of brothers to make the U.S. men’s water polo Olympic team since Peter and Jeff Campbell in 1988.
Chase said it’s always been a dream to make the Olympics. When he was 8 or 9, he said he would go to exhibition matches the team would play during the run up to the 2012 Olympics in London.
Huntington Beach High School graduate Chase Dodd, left, and his younger brother Ryder Dodd stand after being named to the 2024 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team during Tuesday’s event.
(James Carbone)
The attacker said he will look to his older teammates for experience, but also courage.
“When you look at them and they’ve already gone through the pipeline and they’ve already made the Olympics, they have a lot of confidence in that,” Chase Dodd said. “Their confidence is infectious. It bleeds off into me, my little brother and [first-time Olympian and goalkeeper] Adrian [Weinberg].”
Ryder Dodd, 18, who played his first two years of high school at Huntington Beach High before transferring to JSerra, is the youngest player on the Olympic roster. Team USA coach Dejan Udovicic called him a “super-talent” who projects as a five-time Olympian.
He will join his older brother at UCLA. Ryder had a memorable fall last year, helping JSerra win the Open Division title to cap an undefeated season a week after starring for Team USA at the Pan American Games in Chile.
Dejan Udovicic has been the head coach of the U.S. men’s water polo national team since 2013.
(James Carbone)
“After CIF is when I really realized that I have other stuff on the horizon,” he said. “I just had to lock in for the next six months, seven months.”
Other players on the U.S. Olympic squad include returners Johnny Hooper, Marko Vavic, Hannes Daube, Dylan Woodhead and goalkeeper Drew Holland.
Udovicic, who has been head coach since 2013, called it one of his most talented teams in more than two decades of coaching. The Team USA men last earned a medal in the Olympics in 2018, when it claimed bronze in Beijing.
“This group of guys has a work ethic like I’ve never seen before,” said Hallock, the team captain. “They’re willing to do everything and do it really hard, and be really happy while they do it. I think that’s the foundation of any successful team. I think with those things, and how much we’re willing to sacrifice for each other, we can do anything we want and take home a medal in Paris.”
Team captain Ben Hallock answers questions during Tuesday’s media event at Republique Cafe Bakery & Republique Restaurant in Los Angeles.
(James Carbone)
