Ikaika Aki enters his first season leading the University of Hawai‘i women’s water polo team after being announced as the fifth head coach in the program’s history on Aug. 25, 2026.
Aki’s selection as head coach marks a homecoming for the Honolulu product and 2006 graduate of Punahou School. Prior to being hired at UH, Aki coached at Loyola Marymount for four years and earned Golden Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2025 and 2026.
Aki led the Lions to back-to-back GCC Championship titles and consecutive appearances in the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship in 2025 and 2026. LMU’s NCAA berth in 2025 marked the program's first appearance in the tournament since 2012.
Over the last three seasons, Aki led the Lions to a 70-20 record overall, including a 20-0 run in GCC regular-season play. In 2026, Aki led the Lions to a 23-5 record and a third straight undefeated conference campaign. LMU earned the GCC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament and tied for seventh in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll of the season.
During his four-year tenure at LMU, 12 LMU players received Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-America recognition.
Prior to being named LMU's head coach ahead of the 2023 season, Aki served as the head coach for the boys’ and girls’ water polo teams at San Clemente High School. He originally joined the LMU coaching staff in July 2019, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s programs.
Before embarking on his coaching career, Aki was a highly decorated player for the LMU men's water polo program. A two-time AWPCA Honorable Mention All-American and four time Western Water Polo Association Championship winner, he was named the WWPA Conference Player of the Year in 2010. He scored 105 career goals and graduated as LMU's all-time record holder in steals (176) and field blocks (119), while ranking second in career assists with 109, remaining the only player in school history to reach the century mark in all major stat categories.
Aki was a standout in water polo and swimming during his prep career at Punahou. He was named Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys’ water polo Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. He also earned California-Hawaii All-American honors those two seasons, earning fourth-team as a junior and third-team as a senior.
Aki will be the fifth head coach to lead the UH water polo program since its debut in 1998, following in the line of Shari Smart (1998-2002), Michel Roy (2003-11), Maureen Cole (2012-24), and James Robinson (2025-26).
Coaching Experience
Loyola Marymount, Head Coach (2023-26)
San Clemente High School, (2021-22)
Loyola Marymount, Assistant Coach (2019-2020)
Hometown
Honolulu
Education
Concordia University Irvine (M.A. Coaching and Athletics Administration, 2021)
Loyola Marymount (B.S. Natural Science, 2011)
Punahou School (2006)
