Water polo is a curious sport. Most people have little to no experience with it, maybe tuning in when it is played during the Olympics every four years. But for players on one of the 40 teams in NCAA Division I, it offers a chance for an education, or even a path to live in a new country.
Marist junior attacker Anita Radaelli found that path to a new country. Hailing from Cantu in northern Italy, Radaelli is one of 10 international-born players on Marist water polo’s 25-woman roster.
“It’s so good, we have two other Italians, so sometimes we catch each other talking in Italian,” Radaelli said. “But it’s so good to have so many cultures and traditions, and I think it makes us closer. I can only say good things.”
Radaelli got her start in water polo almost by accident. She was at a pool to sign up for swim classes, and one of her classmates’ grandpas asked her to try out for water polo. She took his advice and never looked back.
Her main hurdle at that point in her career was the fact that she was the only girl on an all-boys team. She decided to stick it out because of the passion she had and her love of sports.
In European sports, the development of a player in a sport is vastly different than in the United States. Instead of playing on a team that represents their school, players go through clubs on a pyramid. The pyramid has the lesser leagues and clubs at the bottom before working their way to the top.
Radaelli climbed the ladder from the moment she started playing, and by the time she was a teenager, she found herself at the top of the pyramid playing for Como Nuoto in Lombardy, Italy.
While playing for Como Nuoto, Radaelli’s play drew the attention of an American recruiter. His job was to bring talent like Radaelli to NCAA sports, and Radaelli took notice. She explored her options and quickly landed on a favorite: Marist.
Marist water polo has been a powerhouse for years. Since it began play in 2003, the squad has appeared in 13 MAAC championships, winning five. Since 2016, the program has been led by head coach Chris Vidale, who won the MAAC in 2021.
Radaelli wished to join Vidale’s team to get a chance to win and compete on a team that is led by a great coach. However, a hurdle stood in her way—her English. She could not speak it at a level that the school wished, so she had to look elsewhere. After considering a gap year, Mount St. Mary’s reached out and offered her a spot on the team.
While she found great success in the pool at the Mount, earning All-American honorable mentions in her sophomore year, she still wanted to be a part of Vidale’s team.
“I just wanted more… I knew that Chris and this program could give me what I wanted,” Radaelli said.
Playing for Vidale’s team met the high expectations Radaelli had for her and the team. This year, her first as a Red Fox, the program had a great season in large part because of Vidale’s coaching.
“He deserved the Coach of the Year every year, any year, but this year especially, he has been doing an amazing job with all of us, not just as an athlete, but also as a person, as people,” said Radaelli.
Radaelli and the Red Foxes excelled this season. The team cruised to a 26-6 record, finished ranked 21st in the national poll, and went 8-0 in conference play to secure the MAAC regular season championship.
The team took home plenty of awards, as senior goaltender Ines Sanchez won MAAC Goaltender of the Year and was also named to the All-MAAC First Team alongside Radaelli and her fellow junior attacker Kendall De Beer. The three all represent the diversity of the team as De Beer is from South Africa and Sanchez from Spain.
The season, however, did not end the way the team wanted. They lost the MAAC championship game, which would have earned them an NCAA tournament berth. They lost in a heartbreaking double overtime for the third straight year to Wagner.
“Focus on the good part, the good side of it, like, yeah, we didn’t win it, but all the effort and all the improvement that we had over the year means a lot,” Radaelli said. “It’s just hard to see how close we were and how we couldn’t make it.”
While the season did not end how Radaelli or the Red Foxes wanted, she has one final season to try to get over the hump—she and the team are already looking forward to that opportunity.
“I have no doubt that we will come back and harder, stronger, even if it seems crazy because we’ve been doing the hardest and the strongest all season, but we will do more than that.”
Edited by Mike Schiavone, Nate Shoemaker and Max Rosen
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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