In the fast-paced game of water polo, where every pass and every splash can turn the tide of the game, one player stands out. Sophomore Maddox McClellan has already begun crafting a lasting legacy in the pool with his remarkable talent. As a dual athlete who plays varsity water polo and varsity swim, McClellan spends every day in the pool.
McClellan made the boys varsity water polo team in his freshman year and rode this wave of success into his sophomore year, receiving Marin County Athletic League second-team All-League honors, as well as second-team Division One North Coast Section. With big goals and relentless drive, McClellan is focused on taking his team to the next level. His talent earned him back-to-back selections to the Olympic Development Program, placing fourth in the country as a sophomore in the 2007-2008 age group.
McClellan’s Sleepy Hollow Aquatics club coach, Matt Swanson, acknowledged McClellan’s valuable contribution to the team. McClellan didn’t become an incredible water polo athlete overnight; he put in a great deal of work and training to start achieving his goals. Swanson has been a significant mentor for him since he started playing water polo.
“What Swanson does is he knows every single kid individually, and he adapts them, making them the best player they can be and I’ve always looked up to him,” McClellan said.
However, earning a spot on the varsity team hasn’t come without relentless dedication and hard work in the pool for McClellan.
“I was playing with seniors all of a sudden, and they were all bigger than me, so I had to adapt and figure out how to play well and be able to beat them with speed and [game intelligence] instead of size and strength,” McClellan said.
To do this, McClellan was diligent and trained any time he could, and his effort did not go unnoticed. Senior co-captain of the boys’ varsity water polo team, Sawyer Goldberg, acknowledged McClellan’s determination.
“He was at every morning practice we had; he is super disciplined and always showing up,” Goldberg said.
While McClellan has become a stronger player, he has had to persevere through ups and downs in his career, such as learning how to handle the pressure of big games. McClellan has a routine before all of his games to be able to perform at the highest level.
“I visualize for ten minutes, it’s a form of meditation. I was taught how to visualize by the national team’s coaches, which is a strategy that all the high-level water polo players do before a game. You think about what’s going to happen in that game and visualize the game in your head,” McClellan said.
This method of getting ready for games has proven successful for McClellan. Freshman season, McClellan has had to step up into a pivotal role, delivering performances that exceeded all expectations.
“I was a freshman, and our best player, Ossie Joplin, broke his hand in a game in Los Angeles, so we had to adapt and figure out how to play for several weeks that followed, in his absence. That was a really big moment for me because I got to step up and feel a bigger role on the team,” McClellan said.
McClellan channels his passion into both athletics and community service. In 2022, he swam part of the English Channel to raise money for Swim Across America, a program dedicated to fighting against cancer. He trained for five years doing open water swims every weekend in the Bay Area, and eventually swam eight miles of the English Channel with his friends doing a relay to finish.
“It was 60 degrees in the water, cold outside with lots of jellyfish,” McCellan said, “And swimming in the English Channel is fun.”
Despite having already achieved so much, McClellan continues to set his goals higher and higher in hopes of leaving a lasting legacy. McClellan wants to continue his athletic and academic career at the Division 1 level in college and make as much of a positive impact as the upperclassmen before him.
Through success, leadership and devotion, McClellan has proven to be a bright star on the boys’ varsity water polo team, and he hopes to leave a lasting impression on incoming players.
“Your character is number one on your legacy and how people remember you. As well as if the incoming freshmen, young kids see that the best players are working hard and giving it 100 percent, then they will too, and that’s gonna impact Redwood for a long time,” McClellan said.
