Maureen O'Toole

Who is Maureen O'Toole?

Maureen O'Toole is an accomplished American water polo player and coach. In over 30 years in the sport, she set multiple firsts for women in water polo, received all the top honors, and in her time was recognized as one of the best water polo players in the world.

O'Toole started playing water polo during the swimming off-season at age thirteen. At Wilson High School in Long Beach, California she joined boys' water polo because there was no girls' team. She played at Long Beach City College on the men's team for national team coach Monte Nitzkowski. She attended the University of Hawaii on a swimming scholarship, since there were no water polo scholarships for women at that time.

At age 17, O'Toole was invited to join the U.S. Women's National Water Polo Team. "Mo" was a constant figure on the team from 1978 to 1994, except in 1991 when she gave birth to her daughter Kelly. When women's water polo was added to the 2000 Summer Olympics, Maureen re-joined the US team out of retirement in 1997 and helped qualify the US women's team as one of the six teams eligible to participate in Sydney.