LOGAN’S RUN: Logan McCarroll gets ready to unload the ball in action last fall in his sophomore season for the Princeton University men’s water polo team. McCarroll scored 28 goals with seven assists in 2023 to help Princeton go 28-6 and make the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA semis since the tournament was expanded in 2015. McCarroll will look to be a greater offensive threat this season as the Tigers open their 2024 campaign by playing in the Navy Invitational from September 7-8 in Annapolis, Md. (Photo by Shelley Szwast, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

For Logan McCarroll, a skiing injury to his older brother led him to get into water polo as a 10-year-old.

“My family used to be a whole bunch of skiers, we had a house in Mammoth and we used to go up there every weekend to ski,” said McCarroll, a native of Laguna Beach, Calif.

“My sister (Lela), brother (Larsen), and I were all on the Mammoth ski team, we competed doing that every year. My older brother tore his ACL skiing and he got into water polo. I watched a few of his practices and that is how I ultimately started with water polo.”

McCarroll liked water polo from the start. “I found a passion for water polo straight away,” said McCarroll. “I started with Laguna Beach water polo club, playing with my sister the first year on the 10-and-under coed team.”

That passion led McCarroll to star on the Southern California club scene, compete for the U.S. national cadet team, and enjoy a successful high school career.

In 2022, McCarroll headed east and joined the Princeton University men’s water polo team, making an immediate impact as a freshman, tallying 13 goals and 11 assists. Last fall, McCarroll scored 28 goals with seven assists to help Princeton make the NCAA Final 4 for the first time since the tournament was expanded in 2015.

Reflecting on his ascension up the ladder in the sport, McCarroll pointed to his experience with the U.S. national program as a middle schooler as a big confidence builder.

“The summer before high school, I played in Serbia and Montenegro with the U.S. cadet national team,” said McCarroll. “That was great representing my country, it was a pretty surreal experience. We ultimately ended up getting third place in the group stage. It was just amazing and I think the tournament really set me up for a stellar season of high school water polo.”

As a freshman at Laguna Beach High, McCarroll was second on the team in goals with 60 and earned All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Third Team honors. He transferred to Mater Dei and produced a superb senior year there, making All-CIF Southern Section First-Team as his team won the Trinity League title.

Turning his attention to playing in college, McCarroll considered Stanford and Harvard during his college recruiting process but ultimately decided to come to Princeton.

“In choosing Princeton over Stanford and Harvard, I felt like the academic and athletic prestige this university brings opportunity I could not pass up,” said McCarroll. “I thought that the Princeton water polo team was the most close group of guys I ran into. Even when they are not playing water polo, those guys were always together, they were always doing stuff.”

In adjusting to the college game, McCarroll made a smooth transition.

“The high school and the cadet national team prepared me well for the college level,” said McCarroll. “Adapting to the new culture and the group of guys were the biggest challenges. Only 3 percent of the guys who play water polo in high school end up playing in college so you just see how everyone on any team is ultra-competitive. They are way faster, stronger, and play harder than the average high school player.”

In making 29 appearances as a freshman with 15 starts, McCarroll established himself as key performer with his varied skill set.

“I think where I made the most impact was my versatility, being a utility where the coach (Dustin Litvak) could put me at center or the left side of the pool,” said McCarroll. “He would expect the same out of me from the two positions. One of my strong suits in the college game is earning exclusions where it benefits us on the man up.”

As a sophomore, McCarroll made an even greater impact as he developed a deeper comfort level with the college game. “I think that I was more familiar with the competitive atmosphere and there weren’t as many nerves as freshman year,” said McCarroll.

McCarroll was proud of how Princeton competed collectively last season as the Tigers went 28-6 and produced their historic postseason run.

“When we looked at our success in the fall of this last season, we made the quarterfinals the year before but nothing rolls over,” said McCarroll. “We had to earn it and prove ourselves day in, day out. I think that by creating that culture and being on the same mindset to achieve the same goal was ultimately what helped us this past season.”

In the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) tournament, McCarroll took his game to a higher level, scoring five goals to go with four assists and five drawn exclusions as Princeton topped Iona 19-9 and then edged Harvard 8-5 to win the tournament and punch its ticket to the NCAA tournament.

“In the postseason was definitely where I played my strongest water polo,” said McCarroll, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament first team. “I played center for most of the year until the postseason where our coach wanted to make a switch on the other team and put me on the left side of the pool. I think that was where I really dominated and got to play with Roko [Pozaric]. It really helped me step up my game.”

The Tigers defeated UC Irvine in the NCAA quarters before falling 17-13 to UCLA in the semis.

“That was really big for us, I think looking back on it, that game could have gone either way,” said McCarroll, reflecting on the loss to UCLA. “It was just our little mistakes that hurt us, we should have let UCLA earn more of their goals. At the end of the day, if we fixed those things, the outcome would have been different. It ultimately shows us that we are capable of competing with anyone on any given day.”

As McCarroll prepared for his junior campaign which starts when Princeton plays in the Navy Invitational from September 7-8 in Annapolis, Md., he worked on two main aspects of his game.

“I have definitely been focusing on my speed and my shot,” said the 6’3, 210-pound McCarroll, who has been swimming a lot of 100 and 200-meter sprints on a difficult time interval, shooting in the pool with a weighted belt aiming at certain spots, and doing weight training. “It is my speed in the water, just the swimming aspect and then my shot. I think my catch and shot will be a big point of emphasis for me this year.”

A big point of emphasis for the team this season is to win an NCAA title.

“It is just knowing that our past two seasons we were so close and that we always have the question what if we change this, what if we did that,” said McCarroll. “Now we will really hone in and just work towards a common goal. Our motivation is going to look at that UCLA game last year, knowing that we could have won that game. That is why our coach Dusty has given us the hardest schedule for an East Coast team ever.”

For McCarroll and his teammates, taking the hard road is second nature.

“We didn’t choose Princeton because it is easy, we chose it because we want to be challenged,” said McCarroll. “It is a different competitive nature and atmosphere than I have ever been a part of. Being on the Princeton men’s water polo team is working every day to achieve that main goal with 30 of my best friends.”