BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — In a sporadic series, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) recalls past athletes who competed in the league on the varsity and/or club and have gone into their professional careers. First in the series, courtesy a video piece by Marist College, is Red Foxes’ head women’s water polo coach Chris Vidale.
Vidale, who enters his second season as head coach of the Marist water polo team in 2018, has an overall record of 20-14. He led the team to its best record since 2013 and guided the Red Foxes’ to their 14th consecutive appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship in 2017 as the team advanced to its fourth consecutive MAAC Championship game.
A 2007 graduate of Iona College, he competed for the Gaels men’s water polo team for four years. A defensive specialist, Vidale appeared in 67 games and tallied 30 goals, eight assists, 56 steals, and 38 drawn ejections while leading the Gaels to appearances in the CWPA/Eastern Championship in 2003 and 2005.
After graduation, he then went on to play for the Trinidad and Tobago national team from 2008-12.
He previously served as an assistant coach to the Iona men’s and women’s water polo teams from 2009-16. He also served as the head coach of the New York Athletic club’s women’s water polo team, which consisted of a variety of former collegiate and elite level players.
In 2014, Vidale was also named the head coach of the Greenwich High School boys’ varsity water polo program, leading the team to the 2015 Connecticut men’s state championship.
