E-Board

E-Board, Captains, and Coach

Tom Anderson - Coach
Coach Tom hails from sunny Southern California. His youth spent surfing and swimming for the Seal Beach Swim Club led him straight into water polo as a freshman at Los Alamitos High School. As a senior, he led his team in goals in winning the competitive Orange County Empire League and reaching the CIF Southern Section 3A state finals where they fell 7-9 to league rival and defending state champions El Dorado High School.

After high school, Tom joined the USC Trojan Water Polo Club where he played on the 1988 Junior Olympic gold medal-winning squad in Orlando, FL. He later attended USC as a walk-on and earned a spot on the 16-member varsity squad as a sophomore. The following year as a redshirt junior he decided it was time to hang up the suit and cap.

30 years later Tom added “Coach” before his name as a member of the St. Xavier High School (Cincinnati) varsity boy’s water polo team as assistant coach for the Fall 2021 season.

For the Fall 2022 high school season Coach Tom led the Sycamore High School (Cincinnati) varsity girls' water polo team to a 3rd place finish at the Ohio State Championships. The Lady Aves finished the season 21-7, earning All-Ohio honors for four players and Ohio Girls Coach of The Year for Tom.

Tom is head coach for the MSU Men’s Club, having finished his first season, 2023, as Big10 Champions, Big10 Coach of The Year, and the Spartans finished 4th at The Collegiate Club National Championships.

A former Los Angeles-based advertising executive and small business operations consultant, Coach Tom now resides in Dewitt, Michigan with healthcare marketing superstar wife Kara, middle school twin daughters Rae and Gus, and the newest member of the family, Australian Shepherd Steve Rogers.

Awards:
All American Honorable Mention 1987
All California CIF Southern Section 3A 2nd team 1987
All Empire League 1st team 1987

Manit Patel - Assistant Coach
Manit Patel is currently a senior at Michigan State. He is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, majoring in journalism and information Science and minoring in sports journalism and business. Patel has played water polo for 9 years. He played at Huron and Wolverine Water Polo, winning one district championship, After high school, Patel began coaching full-time at Skyline High School and Wolverine Water Polo for a few years. Patel's goals for the season are winning Big Ten's again and getting that National Champion title. His goals as an assisstant coach is to creating a good environment for the team while helping players balance their sporting needs with school!

Cooper Randall - President
Cooper Randall is currently a junior at Michigan State. A forestry major from Hudsonville, Michigan, Randall started swimming in elementary school and has played water polo since he was in seventh grade. Being a goaltender for his high school team from 2018 to 2022, he helped lead them to three State Championships. Randall was named team captain during his senior year and has also stepped into a leadership position on the MSU water polo team. Post undergraduate, Cooper hopes to work in the fields of geology and ecology at a National Park. He wholeheartedly loves the sport of water polo and cannot wait to get back in the pool with his team.

Leo Varitek - Vice President
Leo Varitek is currently a senior at Michigan State. A fisheries and wildlife major from Dexter, Michigan, Varitek has been playing for seven years now. He started playing water polo his freshman year at Dexter High School after his friends convinced him to and since then, he’s fallen in love with the sport. While at Dexter, he became captain his senior year, 2-time State Runner-Up, 2-time Regional Champion, and 1-time District Champion, and was named All-State and All-Region teams his senior year. Varitek is looking forward to making memories with the team and working hard to bring home another national championship.

Dustin Schmidt - Treasurer
Dustin Schmidt is currently a junior at Michigan State studying finance and economics. Schmidt is from Pleasanton, California, and has been playing water polo for 7 years now. Schmidt originally got into polo when a close friend invited him to a practice. That led to him becoming captain of his high school polo team. Schmidt is looking forward to seeing how we approach this next season and is ready to go back to nationals!

Nate Chalmers - Secretary
Nate Chalmers is currently a senior at Michigan State majoring in dietetics. From Hudsonville, Michigan, Chalmers won two State Championships in high school and a National Championship his freshman year at MSU. Chalmers's middle school swim friends convinced him to start playing water polo and has been playing for 11 years now. Chalmers is looking forward to playing polo with his friends and his goal is to win as many games as we can!

Matt Welmerink - Social Chair
Social Chair, Matt Welmerink from Hudsonville, Michigan, is currently a junior at Michigan State. A marketing major, Welmerink first started swimming in 8th grade where he grew a deep passion for aquatic sports and was introduced to water polo his sophomore year by his friends. Since then, he helped lead the Hudsonville Eagles to win State Champions in both 2021 and 2022. Matt hopes to lead the Spartans to another National Championship, but in doing so, building relationships and strengthening the team along the way.
For any social media or recruiting questions email him at [email protected]

Josh Bergdolt - Team Apparel Chair
Apparel Chair Josh Bergdolt is from East Lansing, Michigan, and is currently a senior at Michigan State majoring in mechanical engineering. Bergdolt followed his older brother's footsteps in playing water polo and has been playing for eight years now. While playing in high school, he was 2-time swim captain and 1-time water polo captain. Bergdolt goals are to win Big Ten Champions back-to-back and go back to nationals!

Ian Bosinger- Fundraising Chair
Ian Bosinger is a Sophomore at Michigan State majoring in finance. Bosinger has swam all his life and some friends convinced him to try water polo, so he did. He has been playing water polo for five years now, during which he was a two-time captain at Saline and made All-Region. Bosinger's goals this season are to contribute in any way possible, beat Michigan, and win a National Championship.