The Coaches

Our Team

NAVY Head Coach
Luis Nicolao
nicolao@usna.edu

He directed the Princeton men and women to a combined to eighteen Southern titles , eight Eastern crowns and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Collectively, Luis coached 29 Princeton student-athletes to a combined 65 All-America accolades with 15 men's team members collecting 34 All-America honors and 14 women tallying 31 All-America distinctions.

NAVY Assistant Coach
Tom Popp
popp@usna.edu

Tom Popp was officially named the assistant water polo coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in July of 2018. A member of the USNA Class of 1989, Popp was a standout for the Midshipmen as an athlete, earning All-America and All-East selection honors, graduating as the all-time leader in career assists in Academy history.

George Washington
Head Coach
Barry King
baking@gwu.edu

Barry King has taken the GW water polo programs to new heights in his two seasons at the helm. The veteran coach led the men's program to its first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2017 before earning a repeat title and won their first game in the national tournament in 2018.

Salem International
Women's Head Coach / Aquatic Director
Robert Bullion
RBullion@salemu.edu

Robert Bullion is in his ninth year at Salem University, currently serving as head men’s water polo coach and aquatics director. He has also served as the Tigers’ head women’s water polo coach and head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Salem.

Austin College
Head Coach
Mark Lawrence
mlawrence@austincollege.edu

Lawrence joined the Naval Academy coaching staff in 2014, and helped guide the Midshipmen to 42 victories in his three years with the program. Prior to his time with Navy, Lawrence worked as an assistant coach at Brown University, working with both the men's and women's water polo programs. While at Brown, he worked as the program's recruiting coordinator and helped coach two players to Collegiate Water Polo Association North Division First Team honors.

John Hopkins University
Head Coach
Max Schegel
schlegelmh@gmail.com

Max Schlegel was promoted to head coach in February 2019 after serving as an assistant for the Blue Jays from 2016 to 2018. He came to Homewood after a two-year stint as the head coach at Calvert Hall.

St. Francis Brooklyn
Women's Water Polo Head Coach/Men's Water Polo Assistant Coach
Alana Burgess
aburgess@sfc.edu

Alana Burgess enters her first season as women's water polo head coach in 2020 after serving as an assistant on staff for the 2019 campaign. In 2019 she helped guide the Terriers to their most regular season wins since 2011 and most conference wins since 2012.

Princeton University
Head Women's Water Polo Coach/Assistant Men's Coach
Derek Ellingson
dellings@princeton.edu

Derek Ellingson just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the women's water polo program. He will begin his 15th season working with the Tigers' men's water polo program in 2019. Prior to joining the Princeton staff in the summer of 2004, Ellingson spent five years coaching at his alma mater, Queens College, first as an assistant and then as the men’s and women’s head coach.

Retired Legendary
Coronado High School Coach
Randy Burgess

Randy Burgess won 715 games during his 33 years of coaching water polo at Coronado High School. He led the boys’ team to 16 section championships and the girls team to three titles before he announced his retirement in 2015.

Coaches & staff

Our Team

You can find the list of our coaches below.

The NAVY Coaching Staff

Luis Nicolao
NAVY Head Coach
nicolao@usna.edu

He directed the Princeton men and women to a combined to eighteen Southern titles , eight Eastern crowns and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Collectively, Luis coached 29 Princeton student-athletes to a combined 65 All-America accolades with 15 men's team members collecting 34 All-America honors and 14 women tallying 31 All-America distinctions.

Tom Popp
NAVY Assistant Coach
popp@usna.edu

Tom Popp was officially named the assistant water polo coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in July of 2018. A member of the USNA Class of 1989, Popp was a standout for the Midshipmen as an athlete, earning All-America and All-East selection honors, graduating as the all-time leader in career assists in Academy history.

Ken Vincent
NAVY Assistant Coach
kvincent@usna.edu

Ken Vincent joined the NAVY Water Polo team in September2020 as an assistant coach. Over the past three decades, Coach Ken has coached both high school and club water polo teams and swimming teams, and played club water polo in the greater Washington, DC area and in Pennsylvania. In 2011,Vincent founded the Buxmont Water Polo Club which has now become a leading high school water polo club in Pennsylvania. Coach Ken has become a regular camp and club coach at NAVY over the past decade.

Luis Nicolao
NAVY Head Coach
nicolao@usna.edu

He directed the Princeton men and women to a combined to eighteen Southern titles , eight Eastern crowns and made seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Collectively, Luis coached 29 Princeton student-athletes to a combined 65 All-America accolades with 15 men's team members collecting 34 All-America honors and 14 women tallying 31 All-America distinctions.

Tom Popp
NAVY Assistant Coach
popp@usna.edu

Tom Popp was officially named the assistant water polo coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in July of 2018. A member of the USNA Class of 1989, Popp was a standout for the Midshipmen as an athlete, earning All-America and All-East selection honors, graduating as the all-time leader in career assists in Academy history.

Ken Vincent
NAVY Assistant Coach
kvincent@usna.edu

Ken Vincent joined the NAVY Water Polo team in September2020 as an assistant coach. Over the past three decades, Coach Ken has coached both high school and club water polo teams and swimming teams, and played club water polo in the greater Washington, DC area and in Pennsylvania. In 2011,Vincent founded the Buxmont Water Polo Club which has now become a leading high school water polo club in Pennsylvania. Coach Ken has become a regular camp and club coach at NAVY over the past decade.

Previous and Future Coaches

Barry King
George Washington Head Coach
baking@gwu.edu

Barry King has taken the GW water polo programs to new heights in his two seasons at the helm. The veteran coach led the men's program to its first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2017 before earning a repeat title and won their first game in the national tournament in 2018.

Robert Bullion
Salem International Women's Head Coach / Aquatic Director
RBullion@salemu.edu

Robert Bullion is in his ninth year at Salem University, currently serving as head men’s water polo coach and aquatics director. He has also served as the Tigers’ head women’s water polo coach and head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Salem.

Peter Sabbatini
Goalie Coaching Coordinator
baking@gwu.edu

Peter Sabbatini is back in Annapolis coaching his alma mater club water polo program.  As a four-year varsity letter winner at Princeton University, and under the head coach leadership of Luis Nicolao, Peter was a member of the water polo program that helped solidify Princeton as an East Coast powerhouse and helped lead the team to its NCAA Final Four Tournament appearance in 2004.  Over the course of his collegiate career as Princeton’s goalie, Peter garnered multiple accolades: ECAC Championship Most Valuable Player (2003), CWPA Southern Player of the Year (2003), First-Team All-Southern (2003, 2004), Second-Team All-Southern (2002), CWPA Eastern Most Valuable Player (2004), First-Team All-Eastern Tournament Team (2003, 2004),Second-Team All-NCAA Tournament Team (2004), and All-America (Third-Team, 2003;Second-Team, 2004).  Outside of Princeton water polo, Peter was a member of the National Youth Team (2001), National Junior Team (2000, 2003) and trained with the National A Team (April 2006 to December 2007), which provided him with the opportunities of training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO (1998, 2006), training internationally (Canada, Venezuela, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy) and competing in international tournaments such as NORAMS (1999), Junior Pan-American Championships (2000, earning Co-MVP Tournament Goalie), and the Junior World Championships (2003)."

Mark Lawrence
Austin College Head Coachmlawrence@austincollege.edu
baking@gwu.edu

Lawrence joined the Naval Academy coaching staff in 2014, and helped guide the Midshipmen to 42 victories in his three years with the program. Prior to his time with Navy, Lawrence worked as an assistant coach at Brown University, working with both the men's and women's water polo programs. While at Brown, he worked as the program's recruiting coordinator and helped coach two players to Collegiate Water Polo Association North Division First Team honors.

Max SchegelJohn Hopkins University Head Coach
schlegelmh@gmail.com

Max Schlegel was promoted to head coach in February 2019 after serving as an assistant for the Blue Jays from 2016 to 2018. He came to Homewood after a two-year stint as the head coach at Calvert Hall.

Alana Burgess
St. Francis Brooklyn Women's
Water Polo Head Coach/Men's Water Polo Assistant Coach
aburgess@sfc.edu
schlegelmh@gmail.com

Alana Burgess enters her first season as women's water polo head coach in 2020 after serving as an assistant on staff for the 2019 campaign. In 2019 she helped guide the Terriers to their most regular season wins since 2011 and most conference wins since 2012.

Derek Ellingson
Princeton University Head Women's Water Polo Coach/Assistant Men's Coach
dellings@princeton.edu

Derek Ellingson just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the women's water polo program. He will begin his 15th season working with the Tigers' men's water polo program in 2019. Prior to joining the Princeton staff in the summer of 2004, Ellingson spent five years coaching at his alma mater, Queens College, first as an assistant and then as the men’s and women’s head coach.

Randy Burgess
Retired Legendary Coronado High School Coach
schlegelmh@gmail.com

Randy Burgess won 715 games during his 33 years of coaching water polo at Coronado High School. He led the boys’ team to 16 section championships and the girls team to three titles before he announced his retirement in 2015.

Barry King
George Washington Head Coach
baking@gwu.edu

Barry King has taken the GW water polo programs to new heights in his two seasons at the helm. The veteran coach led the men's program to its first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2017 before earning a repeat title and won their first game in the national tournament in 2018.

Robert Bullion
Salem International Women's Head Coach / Aquatic Director
RBullion@salemu.edu

Robert Bullion is in his ninth year at Salem University, currently serving as head men’s water polo coach and aquatics director. He has also served as the Tigers’ head women’s water polo coach and head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Salem.

Peter Sabbatini
Goalie Coaching Coordinator

Peter Sabbatini is back in Annapolis coaching his alma mater club water polo program.  As a four-year varsity letter winner at Princeton University, and under the head coach leadership of Luis Nicolao, Peter was a member of the water polo program that helped solidify Princeton as an East Coast powerhouse and helped lead the team to its NCAA Final Four Tournament appearance in 2004.  Over the course of his collegiate career as Princeton’s goalie, Peter garnered multiple accolades: ECAC Championship Most Valuable Player (2003), CWPA Southern Player of the Year (2003), First-Team All-Southern (2003, 2004), Second-Team All-Southern (2002), CWPA Eastern Most Valuable Player (2004), First-Team All-Eastern Tournament Team (2003, 2004),Second-Team All-NCAA Tournament Team (2004), and All-America (Third-Team, 2003;Second-Team, 2004).  Outside of Princeton water polo, Peter was a member of the National Youth Team (2001), National Junior Team (2000, 2003) and trained with the National A Team (April 2006 to December 2007), which provided him with the opportunities of training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO (1998, 2006), training internationally (Canada, Venezuela, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece and Italy) and competing in international tournaments such as NORAMS (1999), Junior Pan-American Championships (2000, earning Co-MVP Tournament Goalie), and the Junior World Championships (2003)."

Mark Lawrence
Austin College Head Coachmlawrence@austincollege.edu

Lawrence joined the Naval Academy coaching staff in 2014, and helped guide the Midshipmen to 42 victories in his three years with the program. Prior to his time with Navy, Lawrence worked as an assistant coach at Brown University, working with both the men's and women's water polo programs. While at Brown, he worked as the program's recruiting coordinator and helped coach two players to Collegiate Water Polo Association North Division First Team honors.

Max SchegelJohn Hopkins University Head Coach
schlegelmh@gmail.com

Max Schlegel was promoted to head coach in February 2019 after serving as an assistant for the Blue Jays from 2016 to 2018. He came to Homewood after a two-year stint as the head coach at Calvert Hall.

Alana Burgess
St. Francis Brooklyn Women's
Water Polo Head Coach/Men's Water Polo Assistant Coach
aburgess@sfc.edu

Alana Burgess enters her first season as women's water polo head coach in 2020 after serving as an assistant on staff for the 2019 campaign. In 2019 she helped guide the Terriers to their most regular season wins since 2011 and most conference wins since 2012.

Derek Ellingson
Princeton University Head Women's Water Polo Coach/Assistant Men's Coach
dellings@princeton.edu

Derek Ellingson just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the women's water polo program. He will begin his 15th season working with the Tigers' men's water polo program in 2019. Prior to joining the Princeton staff in the summer of 2004, Ellingson spent five years coaching at his alma mater, Queens College, first as an assistant and then as the men’s and women’s head coach.

Randy Burgess
Retired Legendary Coronado High School Coach

Randy Burgess won 715 games during his 33 years of coaching water polo at Coronado High School. He led the boys’ team to 16 section championships and the girls team to three titles before he announced his retirement in 2015.