Chase Dodd first started playing water polo ten years ago. His first memory of the sport is traveling from his hometown of Long Beach to Palo Alto to play at the Junior Olympics as a ten-year-old. At this point in life, Chase became the first in his family to pick up the sport as a way to get away from swimming and release some energy.

"It was another way, besides swimming, to keep me in shape," Chase said. "And then over time it started getting my passion and my love."

While Chase was the first member of the family to try water polo, he was not the last. Younger brother Ryder Dodd picked up the sport following in Chase's footsteps and now competes in the National League with USA Academy, just as Chase did in 2019 and 2020.

"Having my little brother next to me, being able to train with him and see him rise up through the water polo ranks - it has kinda become a competition between us and inspired us to achieve great things."

That drive led Chase to become a four-year varsity letter winner in water polo and swimming at Huntington Beach High School before deciding on UCLA for college, where he scored for the Bruins in every appearance in the pool throughout his recently completed Freshman season. During the winter quarter, when most collegiate water polo players take some time off, he instead joined the U.S. Men's Senior National Team at the FINA Intercontinental Cup in Lima, Peru.

"Of course it was a very different opportunity than I've had in the past. I've gone on many development team trips [with] Cadet and Youth Teams, but this was the first big test on a Senior National Team trip," Chase explained. "The opportunity to play with Olympians and future Olympians was an awe inspiring moment where you get to learn from the best of the best."

The opportunity also came with the chance to play for Men's Senior National Team head coach Dejan Udovicic. The most successful coach in Serbian team sports history, Udovicic amassed nearly 500 victories while winning more than 80 percent of all his matches. He led the Radnicki Water Polo Club to a Euro Cup title and the Serbian National Team to a FINA World Championship in 2009, two FINA World Cup titles in 2006 and 2010, two European Championships in 2006 and 2012, two Bronze Medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and five FINA World League Super Final titles.

"Dejan being a Serbian coach [means] he knows how these big European teams play and what standards they hold for their players… The international game is much different from the collegiate game and Dejan coaches to the international standards, which our national team really needs at the moment."

Chase is quick to point out that playing for the Men's Senior National Team was one of the most important experiences he could have had. And he took full advantage of the opportunity. The United States went 6-1 at the FINA Intercontinental Cup and avenged their loss to Australia in group play by beating the Aussies in the final to win gold. Chase scored three goals and was named MVP of the gold medal match.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chase Dodd (@cdodd_5)

Now, the MVP sets his sights on the next chapter of his career.

"My goal is to complete college and see if I have the potential to play [at the 2024 Olympic Games] in Paris. Then, if I have it in me and still have a love for the sport, which I absolutely have right now, maybe I will play back here in the United States in 2028."

With the 2028 Olympic Games taking place in Los Angeles, it would be quite the homecoming.