BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — United States Naval Academy head coach Luis Nicolao guests on the Off the Deck podcast with Steve Carrera.
Named the head water polo coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in January of 2018, Nicolao was a standout for the Midshipmen as an athlete, earning All-America and All-East selection honors. He graduated in 1992 as the all-time leading scorer in Academy history.
Prior to taking the helm for the Mids, Nicolao served as the head coach for both the Princeton University men’s and women’s water polo programs for 20 seasons. During his tenure with the Tigers, he posted a combined 844-312 (.730) record. Under his tutelage, the men’s team held a 402-163 (.712) overall mark, while the women amassed a 442-149 (.748) ledger.
Nicolao, the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Men’s National Coach of the Year in 2004, also has five Eastern Coach of the Year awards split between the men and the women (Men: 2004, ‘09, ‘11; Women: 2001, ‘07). Additionally, he has garnered Southern Coach of the Year honors on seven occasions (Men: 2001, ‘03, ‘08; Women: 2001, ‘05, ‘06, ‘13).
He directed the Princeton men to nine Southern titles (1999, ‘01, ‘03, ‘04, ‘08, ‘10, ‘11, ‘14, ‘15), four Eastern crowns (2004, ‘09, ‘11, ‘15) and made four NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, ‘09, ‘11, ‘15). The women have nine Southern titles to their credit (1999, ‘01, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘08, ‘12, ‘13, ‘14), four Eastern crowns (2000, ‘12, ‘13, ‘15) and three NCAA berths (2012, ‘13, ‘15).
Collectively, Nicolao coached 29 Princeton student-athletes to a combined 65 All-America accolades with 15 men’s team members collecting 34 All-America honors and 14 women tallying 31 All-America distinctions. In addition, he oversaw eight men’s water polo players who earned Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Player of the Year honors and a pair of CWPA Rookies of the Year. On the women’s side, Nicolao coached six different student-athletes to a total of 12 CWPA Southern Player of the Year accolades with an additional two players claiming rookie of the year laurels.
Success in the pool runs in Nicolao’s family. His mother, Lee Davis, was a world-record holder in the distance freestyle while his father, Luis, was a world-record holder in the 100-butterfly. Nicolao followed suit as a two-time high school All-America in water polo, leading Bellarmine College Prep in California to its local championship each year.
As a student-athlete at Navy, Nicolao was a three-time All-America selection and All-East selection for the Midshipmen, graduating as the school’s all-time leader in points (377) and goals scored (282). During the course of his career, Navy won two Eastern Championships (1988, ‘90) and reached the NCAA Tournament on three occasions (1988, ‘90, ‘91). He was named the CWPA Eastern MVP in 1990 and 1991, while earning CWPA First-Team All-East accolades for three straight seasons (1989, ‘90, ‘91). In addition, Nicolao served as the team captain as a senior during the 1991 season.
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 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, while also serving as the U.S. men’s national “B” team assistant coach (1998, ‘99).
Nicolao earned a Master’s Degree in adult education from the University of Phoenix. He and his wife, Kellie, have two daughters, Madison and Morgan.
About Steve Carrera: Steve Carrera is currently the head women’s water polo coach at the College of Marin. In 2019, he led the Orange Lutheran GWP program to a trinity league championship, a CIF-SS D1 Semi Final appearance and the 2019 CIF State Championship. In that same year, the OLu boys water polo team won the trinity league championship and was ranked in the top 8 for the majority of the season. Steve was named SOPAC Zone distinguished coach after leading the North Irvine 12 and Under team to a bronze medal in the 2019 Junior Olympics, a gold medal in the US Club Championships and a gold medal in the Cal Cup State Championship.
In 2016, Carrera was named CIF Division I Coach of the Year after leading the Orange Lutheran Girls Water Polo team to a CIF Division I Championship. He was also named 2016 Orange County Register’s Coach of the Year for girls water polo. In the Fall of 2016,he led the Orange Lutheran Boys Water Polo program to a Division 1 Championship and was again named CIF Division I Coach of the Year. In 2015, Carrera was the recipient of the National Double Goal Coaching award by the Positive Coaching Alliance and was also named Orange County Register’s Coach of the Year for boys’ water polo.
Prior to coming to Orange Lutheran he was the head men’s and women’s water polo coach at Concordia University. In 2007, he was hired to start the first water polo program in Concordia’s history. His stint at Concordia was very impressive going 109-48 on the men’s side and 65-58 in women’s competition. The Concordia men were ranked as high as 8th in 2009 and as high as 6th in the country in 2011. He coached over 30 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America and 11 All-America selections during his time at CUI. Concordia won the NAIA championship 3 times in a row on the men’s side and were runners up four times on the women’s side.
Before arriving at Concordia Steve was the head boys’ and girls’ coach at Northwood High School (2000-2007). During his tenure at Northwood, the Timberwolves went from brand new program to CIF powerhouse. Under Carrera, the Timberwolves never had a losing record, won a pair of league titles (2003, 2006), qualified for CIF 6 years in a row, reached the Division I final (2006) and won the 2006 CIF Masters Southern Section Championship. He coached All-League, All-County, All-America and All CIF water polo players on both the boys’ and girls’ side and in 2006 Carrera was named “Coach of the Year” from the Orange County Register.
Carrera graduated from Irvine High School in 1995 where he received first team all-Sea View League honors and second team all-CIF honors as a senior. He was also named to the South Orange County All-Star Team. He then went to Saddleback College where he played with his brother, Ed Carrera. After Saddleback, Steve transferred to Queens College in New York City, where he received a full athletic scholarship to play water polo and swim. He was on the inaugural Premier League Division I Northeast team.
He earned his Masters degree in Education in 2011 and a Masters in Physical Education in 2014. He is a full time Kinesiology Instructor and Head Swimming and Women’s Water Polo Coach at the College of Marin. He lives in Mill Valley, Calif., with his wife and four kids.
