Mo O'Toole

Women’s water polo became an Olympic sport for women in 2000 at Sydney, which was really too late to see the prime of Maureen “Mo” O’Toole’s career in the sport. She is considered “the” pioneer of women’s water polo in the United States.

O’Toole played in college at Long Beach City College, where she was on the men’s team as there was no women’s team. She then attended the University of Hawai’i on a swimming scholarship as there were no water polo scholarships for women in that era.

O’Toole joined the US Women’s National Team at age 17 in 1978 and played with the team through 1994. She won a gold medal at the 1979 FINA World Cup and bronze medals at the 1986 and 1991 World Aquatic Championships. Although she retired in 1994, when women’s water polo was added to the Olympic Programme she came out of retirement in 1997 to join the US team. At Sydney she was 39-years-old, the oldest player in the tournament, and was one of only two US players over 30, the other being Kathy Sheehy at age 30.

O’Toole was MVP of the US Women’s National Team 15 times. She was named USA Water Polo Female of the Year five times and World Water Polo Female Athlete of the Year six times. O’Toole coached water polo, first at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California, and then at U Cal Berkeley from 1995-97, during her first retirement. O’Toole founded The Pursuit of Excellence Sports Academy, a non-profit that teaches self-esteem and leadership training through sports for girls between 8 and 18 years old. She was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2003 and the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.