Ryder Dodd
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ryder Michael Dodd |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | 19 January 2006 |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Sport | |
| College team | University of California Los Angeles |
| Club | Vanguard Aquatics Huntington, California |
| Coached by | Sasa Branisavljevic (Vanguard Aqua.) Adam Wright (UCLA) Adam Krikorian (Olympics) |
Medal record | |
Ryder Michal Dodd (born 19 January 2006)[1] is an American water polo player. He won a bronze medal in Water Polo representing the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was a student-athlete at UCLA, an attacker on the men's water polo team.[2] On June 7, 2025, he was awarded the Peter J. Cutino Award as the best men's collegiate water polo player of the year for the 2024 season.[3][4]
Dodd was born in Long Beach, California to Janet and Steve Dodd on January 19, 2006. His older brother Chase played water polo for UCLA. Ryder played water polo first for Huntington Beach High School from 2020-2021, and then from 2022-2024 for Junípero Serra High School, a Catholic High School in Gardena, California. During High School, he earned All American honors six times, despite taking off his Senior High School year to train for the Olympics.[3] While an age group competitor, he played for Vanguard Aquatics under Coach Sasa Branisavljevic, a Serbian native.[5] Branisavljevic started the club around 2013 with partner Uros Dzelebdzic, after leaving Huntington Beach Water Polo Club, where he coached for a year from 2008-9. Branisavljevic had played water polo for Long Beach City College, and had earlier played professionally for the Serbian professional team Spartak Subotica originally a soccer or "football" club known as FK Spartak Subotica.[6]
2024 Paris Olympic Bronze medal
Dodd represented the United States, winning a team bronze medal in Water Polo at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Dodd's brother Chase at 24, also made the U.S. team.[7] The Serbian men's team, that had won the prior two Olympics in Water Polo, took the gold, with the Croatian Men's Water Polo team taking the Silver medal. In the semi-finals, the Serbian team defeated the American Men's Water Polo team 10-6, and defeated the Croatia in the final round, 13-11. The U.S. Men's Water Polo team's prior Olympic medal had been a silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, giving the U.S. men's team sixteen years prior to again taking the medal podium in 2024. Dodd was the youngest player on the U.S. team, and, as an important contributor, scored a total of eight goals during the Olympics.[3][4]
International competition highlights
At the 2024 World Aquatics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Dodd scored a total of seven goals, leading to a ranking of 9th place overall. With 28 points, in 2023, Dodd was a leading scorer at Santiago, Chile's 2023 Pan American games. At the July, 2023 World Aquatics World Championships in Fukuoka, at 17, he scored a total of six goals to help lead the team to an overall seventh place ranking. scored six goals At the 2023 World Aquatics World Cup in Los Angeles, Dodd scored six goals helping to lead the team to a third place overall ranking. [3][8] The American team, with Dodd's participation, placed second at the 2025 World Aquatics Men's U20 Water Polo Championships in Croatia in June, 2025, and eighth in the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore in July, 2025, with an eighth overall rank.[8]
UCLA
Dodd attended the University of California Los Angeles and played with the Water Polo team under Head Coach Adam Wright who coached UCLA men's team after 2009 through at least 2025. In 2024 and 2025, Dodd was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference (MPSF) Player of the Year.[9] His UCLA team won the NCAA men's water polo championship in 2024.[3] In 2024, at the NCAA Championship, Dodd was voted the most valuable player at the tournament, and the same year, made the All-Tournament NCAA First Team.[3][10]
References
- ^ "Ryder Dodd". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Ryder Dodd Wins 2025 Cutino Award". uclabruins.com. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Men's Water Polo Beats USC for NCAA Championship". uclabruins.com. UCLA Athletics. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ^ a b "Olympedia Biography, Ryder Dodd". Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ "USA Water Polo, Men's Senior National Team, Ryder Dodd". Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ "Randazzo, Michael, Swimming World Magazine Online, August 1, 2018, "On the Record with Sasa Branisavljevic of Vanguard Aquatics"". Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ ""Brotherly Love Abounds on U.S. Water Polo Roster", The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, June 19, 2024, pg. B007". Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ a b "World Aquatics Profile, Ryder Dodd". Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Dodd Repeats as Player of the Year, Wright Repeats as Coach of the Year". uclabruins.com. UCLA Athletics. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ^ "UCLA Men's Water Polo, Adam Wright". Retrieved March 18, 2025.