During this period, the program had tremendous success under head coach Denny Harper, winning five USA Water Polo championships. This year is the 20th anniversary of the 1991 title, which was the second of three straight for the program.

Despite the success, women’s water polo at the time was just developing as a sport which presented interesting challenges for the team. Only six of the team members had ever played water polo before coming to UCSD, and those six had never played on a women’s team. Co-Captain Christy Parker, for example, came to be on the swim team but ended up a four-time All-American in water polo.

“There wasn’t even girls high school water polo yet, so we all played on boys teams,” co-captain Kristen Larson (now Kristen Ruby) said.  “It was not easy. So when we showed up to college and it was okay to go to class in your sweats and with wet hair and no one looked at you funny for being an athlete, that was really huge.”

But being on the team meant a lot of sacrifice, with the athletic department’s budget much smaller than it is today. Long car trips — often in the team member’s own vehicles — were the norm, and there usually wasn’t enough money for comfortable travel conditions.

“We used to have five or six girls to a hotel room to save money,” Larson said. “But I think that’s why we’re all still so close. We spent a lot of time together, and not always in the best of circumstances.”

In the final, the Tritons overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat UC Davis 6-5. Brenda Reiton and Jamie Dailey joined Parker and Larson on the All-American team, as UCSD beat the Aggies in the final for the second straight year. 1991’s final was held at UCSD rather than at Brown University, as in the previous year.

“To have it in San Diego, with everybody having all their families there — which was probably half of the people packing into Canyonview Pool — it was like a Hollywood ending,” Larson said. “It couldn’t have been any more perfect.”

2000 Men’s Water Polo

When UCSD jumped from Division III to Division II for the 2000 season, one team that didn’t have to worry about stiffer competition was men’s water polo. This was because they already played against the nation’s best teams. Competing at the same level as these teams, however, was another matter.

“It’s very clear who the normal winners are,” captain Justin Wylie said. “They have the history; they have the scholarships; they have the name. It never really came down to talent in our close losses against teams like Cal or USC. It came down to the fact that in the fourth quarter, we weren’t sure of ourselves. There was an intimidation factor.”

Early in the year, however, the Tritons pulled off an upset against then top-ranked Cal, a stunning victory that would set the tone for the season. UCSD advanced to the final four of the NCAA tournament, entering with a stellar 20-8 record, but was forced to play against title-favorites in USC.

The game was tight throughout, and the Tritons held a slim 9-8 lead late in the fourth quarter.

“We had to really play until the last second,” Wylie said. “They started to fall apart and feel desperate. Still, they had a couple of opportunities to tie the game and go ahead, so we really had to keep playing.”

UCSD held on for the victory, and with it, became the first Division-II squad to reach the NCAA Championship match. Though the Tritons would lose that game to UCLA, the win against USC became representative of UCSD’s transformation into a top-level program. Jason Boettner and Jonathan Samuels joined Wylie on the Division-I All-American team that year, and were the only players given the honors from a Division-II school.

Wylie and several of his teammates choose UCSD despite offers from the big-name schools.

“You get an immediate feel at some of the other schools,” Wylie said. “You get the feeling that it’s a business; you’re a number and that’s it. That was different at UCSD. They took the time to get to know us and it’s just a completely different feel. That’s an atmosphere that starts with Denny [Harper] and ends with Denny. When I was captain, he stayed out of it. If there were big issues he would get involved, but anything small, he wasn’t interested in it.”

The team has stayed close, and many of the players still play together in the Sunset San Diego Water Polo Club, which Harper also coaches.

“We go to tournaments together and we play polo,” Wylie said. “Obviously it’s not as competitive, but that’s helped us stay in touch.”