Shana Welch - Episode 036 (Lost Episode 2)

Luis Nicolao - Episode 040 (Lost Episode 6)

A 2020 inductee to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame for his playing career at the United States Naval Academy, Luis Nicoalo has served as head coach at both Princeton University and Navy during his career. As a student-athlete at Navy, Nicolao was a three-time All-America (Third Team – 1990, 1991; Honorable Mention – 1989) and All-East (First Team – 1989, 1990, 1991) selection for the Midshipmen, graduating as the school’s all-time leader in points (377) and goals scored (282) along with rating sixth in assists (95). During the course of his career, Navy won two Eastern Championships (1988, 1990) and reached the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship Tournament on three occasions (1988, 1990, 1991). He was named the CWPA Eastern MVP in both 1990 and 1991, while earning CWPA First-Team All-East accolades for three straight seasons (1989, 1990, 1991). In addition, Nicolao served as the team captain as a senior during a 1991 season capped off by claiming NCAA Championship All-Tournament Second Team laurels prior to graduating in the Spring of 1992. After earning the Naval Academy Athletic Association’s Sword for Men as the top graduating male athlete in 1992, Nicolao assisted with the Navy water polo program as a temporary assigned duty (TAD). He was also a member of the U.S. National Team that won the gold medal at the World University Games in 1993 before serving in the Navy for five years. Nicolao returned to his alma mater’s pool in 1996 as an officer representative prior to accepting the head coaching position at Princeton in 1998. He also served as the U.S. men’s national “B” team assistant coach (1998, 1999). During a 20-year tenure with the Tigers prior to taking command of the Naval Academy in January 2018, he posted a combined 868-316 (.733) record. Under his tutelage, the men’s team held a 402-163 (.712) overall mark, while the women amassed a 466-153 (.753) ledger. Nicolao, the 2004 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Men’s National Coach of the Year, posted five CWPA Eastern Coach of the Year awards split between the men and the women (Men: 2004, 2009, 2011; Women: 2001, 2007) and has garnered Southern Coach of the Year honors on seven occasions (Men: 2001, 2003, 2008; Women: 2001, 2005, 2006, 2013). He directed the Princeton men to nine Southern titles (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015), four CWPA/Eastern crowns (2004, 2009, 2011, 2015) and made four NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2009, 2011, 2015). The women notched nine Southern titles (1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014), four CWPA/Eastern crowns (2000, 2012, 2013, 2015) and three NCAA berths (2012, 2013, 2015). Since returning to Navy in January 2018, Nicolao has overseen a rehauling of the Midshipmen. For his inaugural efforts in 2018, he was recognized by his peers with the MAWPC-East Region Coach of the Year award. Nicolao earned a Master’s Degree in adult education from the University of Phoenix. He and his wife, Kellie, reside near the Navy Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Chris Vidale - Episode 039 (Lost Episode 5)

Chris Vidale enters his 10th season as head coach of the Marist College women's water polo team in 2026. During his tenure, the Red Foxes have posted a 174-123 record under Vidale with one Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship, five runner-up finishes (2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025) and a pair of Third Place marks (2022, 2023). An athlete at Iona University from 2003-to-2007, he posted 30 goals, eight assists, 56 steals and 38 kickouts drawn in 67 games during his tenure with the Gaels. Further, Vidale aided Iona to appearances in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWAPA) Eastern Championship game in 2003 and 2005. The Greenwich High School head coach from 2014-16, he led the program to a Connecticut state championship in 2015. He also served as the NYC Athletic Club head coach from 2013-17. Vidale led team to three NYAC to National Championships in 2013-15 and coached 10 current or former Olympians. He earned his start in collegiate coaching at Iona University, his alma mater, where he served as a men’s assistant coach from 2009-14 under head coach Brian Kelly. A women’s assistant coach under Kelly from 2009-16, Vidale helped the team win three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships in 2011-13 and coached 27 All-MAAC First and Second Team selections and 10 MAAC major award winners.

Jamie Cassidy - Episode 038 (Lost Episode 4)

Following her 15th season as the women’s club coach at SDSU after taking over the program in September 2010, Cassidy is no stranger in the ranks of the women’s collegiate club teams around the nation.  A two-time Pacific Coast Division (2012, 2014) and five-time Southwest Division (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2025) Coach of the Year – along with taking home SDSU Sports Club Coach of the Year accolades in 2014 and 2016 – she has led the Aztecs to six division championships (Pacific Coast: 2014; Southwest – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2025) and the 2014 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship National Championship. The victor of the 2014 National Championship via a 10-9 sudden death overtime defeat of the University of Michigan at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, she has not masked her coaching skill in taking a San Diego State team which has risen from being among the middle of the pack in the Pacific Coast Division to recording First (2014), Third (2017, 2019, 2025), Fourth (2015) and Fifth (2012, 2016) Place finishes at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship over the past decade and a half. A 2009 graduate of San Diego State and a 2011 graduate of the University of San Francisco with a Masters Degree in Sport Management,

Michael Goldenberg - Episode 037 (Lost Episode 3)

Among the best international officials in the history of the game, Michael Goldenberg currently gives back to the game of water polo as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC)/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) varsity assignor following his retirement from officiating. A conduit for the recruitment, management and support of the varsity officiating ranks, Goldenberg called the Gold Medal match at the 2019 World Championships and the men’s Gold Medal match at the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics prior to stepping way to educate the next generation of officials. The recipient of the 2022 Bret Bernard National Referee Award (Elite) from USA Water Polo, he officiated collegiate competition from 1993-to-2024 and has called conference and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships Finals. He became an international referee (FINA) in 2003 and officiated Gold Medal games on a variety of levels around the globe while also serving as the Head Coach/Administrator with South Florida Water Polo Club and the Head Coach of the Boys Team at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, both located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Shana Welch - Episode 036 (Lost Episode 2)

Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member/former University of Michigan athlete Shana Welch competed for the Wolverines during the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons leading the Maize & Blue to the CWPA Championship (then known as Eastern Championships) in 2005 to accompany a pair of runner-up marks (2004, 2006) and a fourth place (2007) finish as the team reached the CWPA title game three times during her tenure. Overall, Michigan finished 112-51 during her four-year career (2004: 30-9; 2005: 29-14; 2006: 29-12; 2007: 24-16), including a 26-3 mark in CWPA Western Division play in claiming four consecutive division crowns. A third team Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America selection in 2005 and two-time All-America Honorable Mention in 2006 and 2007,  she is the only three-time (2005, 2006, 2007) CWPA Most Valuable Player in school history and was the CWPA Rookie of the Year in 2005 to currently stand as the only women’s player to sweep all of the major awards she was eligible for over a four-year span. A four-time All-Western Division First Team Selection (2004-to-2007), Welch garnered nine CWPA Player of the Week honors and established new program records for career goals (297) and points (393), served as captain of the Wolverines in her junior and senior seasons and was the recipient of the Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement Award in 2006 and 2007, as well as the Bob Ufer Senior Athlete Award in 2007 to accompany USA Speedo Top 40 honors in 2005 and 2006.