BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — In only the program’s sixth year of existence, the Florida East Coast Water Polo Club (FEC) is making a mark in producing women’s athletes that advance to compete in the varsity and collegiate club ranks.
Established in 2019 by Kurt Premdore in Boca Raton, Fla., with a purpose to provide top level water polo training in the area while preparing athletes for high school, college and national level water polo competition, FEC accepts all athletes (ages 12-18) with any levels of ability, from beginners to former international level athletes.
The organization’s goal is to bring all the differing skill levels and accompanying desires together into a unified program with an eye towards preparing and placing athletes into the collegiate ranks.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Predmore and consultant/former Johns Hopkins University men’s water polo head coach Ted Bresnahan, FEC will send five athletes onto collegiate water polo for the 2024-25 academic year – with one competing during 2023-24 – in the persons of Olivia Wiessman, Breana Woods, Catherine Mckann, Julia Allen, Maci Rippo and Coral Uzgiden.
- Olivia Wiessman: Competing in water polo for five years, Wiessman started playing the sport at Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale in eighth grade. From there, she started playing club all year round and will continue her tenure in the sport at Iona University next year.
- Maci Rippo: A competitor as her teams’ goalkeeper since the seventh grade, she will continue her athletic career at Long Island University.
- Julia Allen: Competing for Predmore since she was 10, Allen earned a spot on the USA Water Polo Developmental National Team and Cadet Teams. She is committed to Long Beach State University.
- Coral Uzgiden: A four-year competitor with specialization as a center defender over the past two seasons, Uzgiden earned spots at the USA Water Polo Olympic Development (ODP) Regional and National Championships in Texas and California. Currently undecided on an institution, she plans on competing in the collegiate club ranks next year.
- Catherine McCann: McCann has competed in water polo for the past five years. She began competing in Richmond, Va., and moved over Florida East Coast at the start of the 2021-22 school year. A left-handed attacker, she is committed to Villanova University.
- Breana Woods: The first of the group to leave Florida and head north for collegiate playing experience, the former St. Andrew’s School attacker is slated to compete for Mount St. Mary’s this year.
To learn more about Florida East Coast Water Polo, visit the club’s website by CLICKING HERE.
About Kurt Predmore: Predmore started his coaching in 1998 at Lake Worth Community High School in Lake Worth Beach, Fla. During his tenure, his teams earned three county championships and district championships (pre FHSAA sanction) and were a state (independant) quarter finalists in 2003. In 2010, he was offered and accepted the boy’s water polo coaching position at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton. Hhe was named the Coach of the Year as his team won the 2011 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) State Water Polo Championship. In his tenure at Saint Andrew’s, his teams have won 15 district titles and finished as a state semifinalist five times. The Coach of the Year in 2013, 2015 and 2019, he has coached 21 National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) All- America and seven United States Water Polo All-Academic honorees. The current coach at Boca Raton High School in Boca Raton, he has furthered his records with the boys and girls teams each attending state semifinal berths in 2022 and 2023.
In addition to his high school coaching exploits, Predmore has history in the collegiate club ranks as he served as a volunteer coach at Florida State University. During the 2015 and 2016 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Men’s Collegiate Club seasons, his teams won the Florida Division back to back earning a spot at CWPA National Collegiate Championship taking 11th in 2015 at the University of California-Santa Cruz and 13th in 2016 at the University of Notre Dame. He was recognized as the 2015 Florida Division Coach of the Year for his performance.
In addition, he has been involved with the ODP program for the past five years as a zone boys and girls head coach. The Southeast Zone Chairperson for USAWP, she was recently selected as an assistant coach with the USA Futures Team and traveled to Hungary for two weeks of training and competition.
