The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches named James Robinson the nation's top assistant coach in 2024.
In 2025, Robinson has shown thus far that he also belongs in the upper echelon of head coaches.
Robinson, who was named the head coach of the University of Hawai‘i women's water polo team prior to the 2025 season, has guided the Rainbow Wahine to a 10-3 start and No. 3 national ranking in his debut season.
The 'Bows went 3-1 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational over the weekend in Irvine, Calif., including the signature win of Robinson's young coaching career in the tournament's third-place match: An 8-5 win over UCLA, the defending national champions and Robinson's alma mater.
"I thought that the team did an awesome job for the preparation the weeks leading up to the days prior, and then even the morning of those games," Robinson said. "I think just for the preparation the team had themselves ready to go, I thought that that was awesome, and for them to pull off the wins that they did was a really good indicator of where we are right now and also how we can still continue to improve even with those results."
Robinson was a former player on UCLA's men's water polo team from 2013 to 2017. When it came to coaching against the Bruins, Robinson said "you always want to try to treat every game the same, but obviously I have friends with that coaching staff. I know a lot of those athletes on the team still, so it's fun. But no, try to once they blow the whistle, take anything personal out of it and just coach our team."
A staggered schedule for the Rainbow Wahine included four matches in three days at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif. from Jan. 31-Feb. 2. UH didn't play again until the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, which took place from Feb. 21-23. Hawai‘i's only three losses in 2025 have come against the nation's top two teams. The Rainbow Wahine lost to No. 1 Stanford on Jan. 18, then fell to No. 2 USC at both the Triton Invitational and Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
The Rainbow Wahine had arguably their best season in program history in 2024, going 23-4 with an NCAA national semifinal appearance in Maureen Cole's final season before retirement. Despite returning impact scorers such as Bernadette Doyle and Jordan Wedderburn, true freshman Ema Vernoux currently has a team-high 43 goals for the Rainbow Wahine in 2025.
"When we were recruiting her, she's a natural born goal-scorer," Robinson says of Vernoux, a native of France. "As the season goes on now, her ability to set up teammates, because teams are going to know who she is, and they're going to try to neutralize her. But by doing that, she'll open up teammates. And so now developing that side of her game, which is already great, she's a great passer as well, so it's been fun to work with."
The Rainbow Wahine are currently on a break until Big West Conference play starts on March 7 at UC Santa Barbara. From there, UH will play every week until mid-April. After that, the 'Bows will be idle for a week before playing in the Big West Tournament from April 25-27 in Irvine, Calif.
"I think their confidence should go up. But now we move into conference season, so we've got to move on pretty quickly," Robinson said.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
