USA Water Polo

Carin Crawford was an athlete before she became the most accomplished women's water polo coach in San Diego history.  She was the first woman to play on the Santa Rosa Junior College men's water polo team and later co-captained the women's team at UC San Diego where was named All-America. On the US women's senior national team, Crawford competed in tournaments in The Netherlands, Hungary and the UK. She also suited up for Tasmania at the 1990 Australian National Championships. Crawford also played domestically for Sunset San Diego and won multiple summer and winter national championship titles.  Today, she competes at the Masters level and recently earned a silver medal at the 2025 World Aquatics Masters World Championships in Singapore.

Crawford's coaching career began in 1990 with the San Luis Obispo High School boys' junior varsity program. In 1996, she led the girls' programs at San Diego Mesa College and Sunset San Diego to four Junior Olympic medals. In 1998, she was named head coach of women's water polo at San Diego State University where she began a legendary 24-year run. Crawford built the Aztecs into a perennial contender, and led the team to a program-record 475 wins. Under her guidance, the Aztecs reached the NCAA tournament three times and never finished outside of the top 25 in the country. 

Crawford's teams also produced 52 All-Americans and 122 All-Academic conference selections. As a result, she was named 2016 GCC Coach of the Year and, in 2024, received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC). Crawford remains heavily involved in the sport. From 2003 to 2007, she served on the NCAA Women's Water Polo Committee. She co-founded WOWPAC to advance women's coaching, and was an ACWPC vice president from 2018 to 2022. More recently, she transitioned to officiating for high schools and colleges and serves as a referee evaluator at the college varsity level.