Denison is adding women’s water polo, a fast-paced, action-packed sport, to its varsity athletics lineup for the 2026-27 academic year.
The newest Big Red team, which will train and play in the Trumbull Aquatics Center, is assembling a roster to compete as a club sport for the 2025-26 school year before transitioning to the varsity level.
Tim Sherwood
Tim Sherwood, who boasts more than a decade of coaching experience in the sport, has been named the program’s first coach.
Water polo will become Denison’s 27th varsity sport with the Big Red joining the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Matt Tanney, associate vice president and director of athletics, said water polo is an excellent addition to a Big Red athletic program that is evolving into a Division III national power on the strength of its facilities, resources, alumni support, and high academic standards.
“The addition of women’s water polo makes a lot of sense for Denison, leveraging the premier aquatics facility in NCAA Division III and a growing number of prospective and current students from areas where the sport is thriving,” Tanney said. “As the roster is built for the 2026-2027 academic year, we’ll support the program with aspirations to compete at a championship level, the same as every one of our existing 26 Big Red varsity teams.”
Denison athletics enjoyed unprecedented success in the 2024-25 campaign. The Big Red captured its 21st North Coast Athletic Conference All-Sports trophy. Highlighted by two national titles in men’s swimming and tennis, Denison also finished 20th in the Division III Learfield Directors’ Cup rankings, which include more than 400 institutions that sponsor Division III athletics.
Tanney said Sherwood, a former head coach of the men’s and women’s program at Grinnell College, has the athletic and academic qualifications to lead Denison into a new chapter of Big Red sports.
“Coach Sherwood brings an extensive background in water polo and a firm understanding of the liberal arts environment,” Tanney said. “His familiarity with the national recruiting landscape will help build a team with students committed to the holistic, relational athletics experience intrinsic to Denison. I look forward to Coach Sherwood leading water polo on a similar trajectory to our fencing and squash teams, two recent examples of sport additions similarly aligned with the athletics program.”
Sherwood spent the past three years as an assistant coach for the Saint Francis University women’s team. In 2025, the Red Flash set school records for wins and goals per game. It also finished with the team’s best grade point average (3.72) in the spring of 2025. At Grinnell College, Sherwood was a three-time Heartland Conference MVP as a player (2013-15), and served as a coach of the men’s and women’s club water polo teams while working toward a bachelor’s degree in economics. He was also a member of the varsity swimming and diving team.
“Denison has the resources and pedigree to support a national championship caliber water polo program, and I’m excited to get started,” Sherwood said. “As a former Division III athlete myself, I deeply value the mission of Denison, and I hope to build a program that will be successful not only in the water, but in the classroom and on the campus at large.”
There are more than 100 collegiate women’s water polo programs, including about 20 in Division III. The Collegiate Water Polo Association, which consists of programs in the Eastern part of the country, has nine Division III teams for the 2025-26 season.
Denison students who want to try out for the club team, which begins play during the 2026 spring semester, should email Lynsey Whisner, director of budget, camps, and club sports, at whisnerl@denison.edu.