BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — University of Southern California women’s varsity head coach Casey Moon announced the appointment of former University of Pennsylvania collegiate club athlete and coach Christopher Lee as an assistant coach for the Women of Troy.
“We are so lucky and grateful to add such a quality coach in Chris Lee to the staff and our USC women’s water polo family,” said Moon. “He’s an established coach with a wealth of knowledge, well versed collegiately and internationally, and his experience will immediately impact the development of our team. Fight On, Chris!”
Lee comes to USC directly from time spent working with USA Water Polo, most recently serving as Director of National Team Program Operations, and also boasts 14 years of collegiate coaching experience with teams that amassed eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) appearances. Most recently, Lee helped Pomona-Pitzer Colleges win the 2023 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship.
Lee served as an assistant coach at the University of California in Berkeley, Calif., prior to joining the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) women’s staff for a run from 2018-to-2021.
Over five years and two stints at Cal, Lee helped the Golden Bears to four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Water Polo Championships semifinal-round appearances. Individually, players from those teams accounted for 43 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic Awards and 31 All-America nods.
A veteran of the Southern California water polo scene, Lee guided the men’s and women’s teams at Occidental College (2015, 2016) between stints with the Golden Bears. He also turned in three seasons each with the Pomona-Pitzer College men’s (2009-2011) and women’s squads (2010-12), helping the Sagehens to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championships on both sides.
Lee entered the world of coaching at Penn in 2000, when he took over the women’s collegiate club water polo team as an undergraduate student. Eight seasons (2000-04, 2005-08) later, the Quakers had claimed four Mid-Atlantic Division championships (including the program’s first in 2004) and made Lee the division’s Coach of the Year four times. For good measure, Lee took over the men’s side in 2006 and did not miss a beat, helping his alma mater to a Mid-Atlantic title in 2007 and earning Coach of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Lee has played key roles with the U.S. women’s national teams on staff for four Olympic Games and numerous World Aquatics Championships and Pan American Games. As a video analyst, he operated at head coach Adam Krikorian’s right hand on the way to gold medals at the 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020/21 Tokyo Olympic Games.
In the coaching realm, Lee has been active on deck for U.S. women’s Development, Cadet and ODP Zone teams.
“I want to thank Casey and Stephen for welcoming me to USC,” Lee said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to coach with them and to work with the incredible student-athletes here. I look forward to being a part of the rich history and tradition of USC water polo.”
Lee joins a USC women’s program that has reached 21 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, most recently finishing as national runner-up in 2025 under the direction of head coach Moon. Lee will serve as one of Moon’s two assistants, alongside Stephen Loomis, who enters his third season on deck for the Women of Troy.
Information courtesy University of Southern California Athletics Communications
