About the Program

First introduced in 1994 as an intercollegiate sport for women, the Tigers wasted little time clawing their way to the top. Building on an Occidental water polo tradition dating back to 1926, the Tigers have finished in the top 10 nationally among Division III teams for the past 12 years, bringing home a national championship in 2000 and a long list of All-American, Academic All-American and All-Conference player honors.  

The 2006 season saw continued success under the guidance of head coach Larry Zubrin.  The women reached the championship game of the Collegiate III National Championships for the fourth time in the last nine seasons.  For the second consecutive year Oxy finished ranked in the top 3 nationally.

"2006 was another step in the right direction for our program."  Said Zubrin, "We've established ourselves as one of the premier teams in the NCAA and we'll look forward to carrying on that tradition for years to come." 

As an NCAA Varsity Program Oxy competes in the highly competitive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).  Occidental also has an opportunity to qualify for the newly formatted 8-Team NCAA Open Division National Championship Tournament.  Under the format established in 2005 the champion of the SCIAC conference, along with the winner of the MPSF, WWPA, CWPA, and MAAC will be given automatic bids to the tournament.

The Tigers are also eligible to compete in the Collegiate III National Championship Tournament as well.   With the opportunity to contend for a national title, the Tigers compete at the highest level of the sport, with regularly scheduled opponents including other Division III teams as well as Division I and II schools.

Home for the Tigers is the open-air Taylor Swimming Pool in the E.S. Field Memorial Building on the Occidental campus.  Plans are currently underway for a new state of the art, Olympic size aquatics facility.