BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The 2026 USA Water Polo Division III Women’s Collegiate Water Polo National Championship will take place on Saturday-Sunday, April 25-26, at Division III No. 2-ranked/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges’ Matt M. Axelrood Pool in Claremont, Calif.
A championship pitting Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion/Division III No. 5 Macalester College and CWPA Division III Championship runner-up/Division III No. 7 Carthage College versus Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion/host/Division III No. 2 CMS and runner-up/Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, the event will be contested for the fifth time in 2026 with prior championships at Pomona-Pitzer (2022, 2024) and Augustana College (2023, 2025). The championship was slated to begin in 2021 but was eliminated as only a portion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III institutions elected to field teams due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Ticket information will be available soon with admission for the tournament priced at $12 per day and $20 for the weekend last year with all tickets exclusively available online per past policy. No tickets are expected to be sold at the door for the event.
Games will be streamed live on a pay-per-view basis at Overnght.com.
The trip west marks the first time both the Scots and Firebirds will compete in the USA Water Polo Division III Championship. Augustana made the 2024 and 2025 championships as the CWPA Division III Champion after earning a position at the inaugural event in 2023 as the league’s runner-up, while Austin College won the league in 2023 and finished second in 2024 before Washington & Jefferson College claimed second place in 2025.
Macalester and Carthage become the seventh and eighth institutions to earn spots at the women’s event by joining Augustana (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), Austin (2022, 2023, 2024), Washington & Jefferson (2025), four-time champion Pomona-Pitzer (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2023, 2024, 2025) and Whittier College (2022).
In the history of the women’s championship, Pomona-Pitzer (2022 – 1st; 2023 – 1st; 2024 – 1st; 2025 – 1st), Whittier College (2022 – 2nd) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2023 – 2nd, 2024 – 2nd; 2025 – 2nd) have made the title game, while Austin (2022 – 3rd ; 2023- 4th; 2024 – 4th), Augustana (2022 – 4th ; 2023 – 3rd; 2024 – 3rd; 2025 – 3rd) and Washington & Jefferson (2025 – 4th) have competed for Third Place.
Pool Location:
Matt M. Axelrood Pool
690 N Mills Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Game Schedule (all times Central):
- Saturday, April 25, 2026
- 2:00 p.m. Pacific/5:00 p.m. Eastern – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges vs. Carthage College
- 4:00 p.m. Pacific/7:00 p.m. Eastern – Pomona Pitzer Colleges vs. Macalester College
- Sunday, April 26, 2026
- 10:30 a.m. Pacific/1:30 p.m. Eastern – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Third Place)
- 12:30 p.m. Pacific/3:30 p.m. Eastern – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (First Place)
