BRIDGEPORT, Pa — Didi Evans (So., Corona del Mar, Calif./Corona del Mar) of Princeton University and Synnove Robinson (Fr., Honolulu, Hawai’i/Punahou) of Harvard University combined to score 20 goals as the United States Women’s Junior National Team powered to the 2026 PanAm Aquatics U19 Water Polo Championship in Bauru, Brazil, with an 8-0 mark from September 28-to-October 4.
The Americans overwhelmed their competition by topping Mexico (25-0 W, September 28), Canada (25-4 W, September 29), Brazil (14-8 W, September 30), Mexico (30-1 W, October 1), Canada (19-10 W, October 2) and Brazil (22-7 W, October 3) prior to turning aside Mexico (31-2 W, October 3) in the semifinals and Brazil (20-8 W, October 4) for the title. Overall, the Americans outscored their competition by a 185-to-40 count for an average margin of victory in excess of 18 goals per game.
The 2026 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Rookie of the Year, the CWPA Championship Rookie of the Tournament, CWPA Championship All-Tournament Honorable Mention and a CWPA All-Conference Second Team selection, Evans scored six times the tournament.
She appeared in 30 games with 29 starts in helping Princeton to a runner-up finish in the CWPA last year. She led the Tigers in points (126) and assists (81) as her 81 assist output tied the school single-season record established by Rachael Carver ’25 in 2025. In addition, she holds the Princeton single game assists record as she handed out eight helpers with four goals to factor in 12 goals during a 21-7 victory at home in DeNunzio Pool on January 31, 2026.
Robinson – who accounted for 14 goals during the U19 Water Polo Championship – joins the 2025 and 2026 CWPA Champion Crimson after earning Hawai’i State All-Tournament Team selection three times. The Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) leading scorer in 2024 and 2025 and a three-time ILH All-Conference honoree (2024, 2025, 2026), she was named the ILH Player of the Year in 2025 to accompany state championship Player of the Tournament laurels.
On the bench, Brown University women’s head coach Jaclyn Puccino served as an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Ethan Damato.
Named the Head Coach for Women’s Water Polo at Brown on June 6, 2025, she led the Bears to a fourth place finish in the CWPA Championship during her inaugural season at the helm of the program.
A former assistant coach at the University of Southern California (2025), Puccino also spent six seasons at Harvard, serving as a coach of both the Crimson women’s and men’s programs. Puccino joined the Crimson staff as an assistant in 2018 and was elevated to associate head coach in 2023. During her time in Cambridge, Harvard teams posted a combined eight 20-win seasons, including the Crimson women’s first-ever conference championship game appearance in 2022 and a 2019 NCAA appearance for the Harvard men.
Puccino began her coaching career with the Palomar College women’s program, earning Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016. She spent a year as the women’s head coach at San Diego Mesa College, winning the 2017 PCAC title and her third PCAC Coach of the Year nod.
As a player, Puccino earned All-America First Team honors at Palomar College before going on to Marist College, where she earned a degree in psychology in 2012. Puccino also holds a master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University.
In addition to the athletes and coaches, Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) official Stephanie Villalobos served as the United States referee for the event.
