Men's Water Polo

Whittier College Says Good-Bye to a Legend
Head Water Polo Coach Mitch Carty to Step Down

From the day he set foot on the Whittier campus as a freshman in 1992, it was evident that Mitch Carty would leave his mark on the college.  After eight all-conference selections as a water polo player and golfer and 213 wins (and counting) as a men's and women's water polo coach, the Whittier College Hall of Famer is parting ways with the Purple and Gold.  Carty has announced his resignation, effective at the conclusion of the 2006-07 academic year.

Carty was an exemplary student-athlete; earning Academic All-American honors in 1995-96.  He was named first-team All-SCIAC in 94-95 and 95-96 in water polo and 92-93, 93-94 and 95-96 as a golfer.  In 1995-96, he was the individual champion at the Southern California Intercollegiate Golf Championships.

As great of an athlete as he was, Carty has developed into one of the finest water polo coaches in the country.  He began coaching the men's water polo team as a graduate assistant in 1996 and took over the program in 1997.  He is the program's all-time leader in wins (153) which includes a SCIAC Championship in 2004 when the team finished the season 23-10 overall and 9-1 in conference play.  Twice Carty reached the 23 win mark in a season, a record for the program.  In 2003, he took over the women's water polo team and has a program record 60 wins.  In 2006, the team finished in fourth place at the Division III National Championships.

With all of his accomplishments as a player and coach, if you ask Carty what his proudest moments have been, he will tell you his family has provided more joy than anything he could accomplish in athletics.  He and his wife Lyn have recently been blessed with the birth of their second child, and Carty doesn't want to miss out on a single memory.  "With a growing family, I am committed to sharing as many precious moments with them as possible.  Rather than compromise my role as a husband and father OR my role as a committed collegiate coach, I step down now to allow new energy to pick up where I stop," said Carty.

Carty will continue to coach, but instead of college coaches having to prepare for a Poets team that Carty has finely tuned to compete in intercollegiate athletics, they will be turning to him to recruit the young talent that he will produce at the high school level.  "My passion for coaching still burns as hot as ever," Carty adds, "As I depart, I will be pursuing other coaching opportunities, primarily at the high school level.  I will forever cherish the friendships and relationships I have developed at Whittier College and in the SCIAC and WWPA conferences and hope to stay in close touch with many of you in the future."

Whittier College Athletic Director, Rob Coleman acknowledges that Carty's successor will have some large shoes to fill.  "Mitch's loyalty to his alma mater and the Whittier College athletic program will be sorely missed.  Both our Men's and Women's Water Polo teams are successful programs due to Mitch's hard work and dedication.  He will be missed by all of his peers in the athletic program as well as past and present student-athletes.  We certainly wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors.  Our program will begin the process of securing a coach that can continue to move our program in a positive direction."