HEAD Coach: IVAN BUICH

Santa Margarita Catholic High School is excited to welcome Ivan Buich as Head Coach of the Boys Water Polo program. A proven leader with over a decade of experience coaching at the youth, high school, collegiate and semi-professional levels, Coach Buich brings a legacy of excellence, athlete development and championship culture to the Eagles' water polo program.

Coach Buich most recently served as an Assistant Coach at the University of Southern California, where he specialized in center player development, high-performance training and served as Head of Recruiting for USC Men’s Water Polo. During his tenure, the Trojans achieved significant success, including three consecutive MPSF championships (2022–2024), an NCAA Runner-Up finish in 2022 and 2024, and a semifinalist appearance in 2023. As acting head coach, Buich led the Trojans to a 3-0 record, including a commanding victory over UCLA in the 2024 MPSF Final.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Buich back to Santa Margarita,” said SMCHS Athletic Director Donald Evans. “His deep knowledge of the game, ability to develop athletes at every level, and commitment to character and academic excellence align perfectly with our mission. He’s a transformational leader who will elevate our program on and off the pool deck.”

Coach Buich’s roots in Orange County water polo run deep. From 2012 to 2024, he led age group teams at OCWPC and Patriot Aquatics, coaching over 85 athletes who advanced to NCAA competition and earning over 85 national tournament titles. His previous high school coaching experience includes a successful tenure at San Juan Hills High School, where he guided both boys and girls teams to CIF Finals, and an earlier stint at SMCHS from 2013 to 2015, during which he led the Girls team to a CIF Division II Championship.

“I’m honored to return to Santa Margarita and lead the Boys Water Polo program,” said Buich. “This school is special to me, and I’m excited to build upon its tradition of faith, excellence, and community. I look forward to mentoring our student-athletes to reach their full potential, in the classroom, in competition and life.”

Coach Buich holds a B.A. in History from Arizona State University and an A.A. from Golden West College. He is a certified kinesiology instructor, NCAA Coaching Development Specialist, and an active member of USA Water Polo.

ASSISTANT Coach: christian macias  

Christian has played and coached water polo for 19 years. He played for OCWPC, SET and SOCAL. During his club experiences, he won All-American and Academic All-American. He played water polo at Mission Viejo High School, where he was MVP for three years and on D1, D2 and D3 CIF teams. Christian was the leading scorer in Orange County his senior year and was an All-American. He played two NCAA D1 at the Naval Academy in college and later transitioned to hole set at UCI. While at UCI, he received the CWPA All-American distinction and Golden Coast Conference All-American Honoree.

Christian coached at Power Aquatics, OCWPC, Trabuco Hills High School and SMCHS. At OCWPC he coached multiple age groups, including splash ball, 10u, 12u and 14u. At Trabuco, he was the JV Boys team's Varsity Assistant Coach and Head Coach. He coached JV girls at SMCHS in 2018. He is now the Director of the Masters program at Power Aquatics. Christian still competes at a higher level in water polo, recently awarded the Masters All-American while competing at the 2022 Masters National Championships.

ASSISTANT Coach: Aaron Arias

Assistant Coach: Jose Cordero

Boys Water Polo Alumni

• 2026 - Pedro Mattiazo, Long Beach State University
• 2026 - Evan Wu, Stanford University
• 2025 - Aidan Stone, Bucknell University 
• 2024 - Keegan McGann, UCI
• 2024 - Max Ellis, Air Force Academy
• 2023 - Spencer Averitt, USC
• 2022 - Lott (Quint) Steffey, Johns Hopkins University
• 2022 - Daniel Palfi, Johns Hopkins University
• 2022 - Zachary Cwiertnia, Pepperdine University 
• 2021 - Ben Kirshon, Brown
• 2021 - Matty Walsh, Pepperdine
• 2021 - Connor Cohen, USC
• 2021 - Marko Maramica, UCSB
• 2021 - Speedy Laster, Stanford
• 2021 - Cole McKechnie, Navy
• 2020 - Aidan Nettekoven - Claremont McKenna
• 2020 - Wyatt Clark - UCSB
• 2020 - Will Kieckhafer - Cal
• 2019 - Nick Maramica - Claremont McKenna
• 2019 - Angel Sanchez - Cal Baptist
• 2019 - Jake Marquez - UCSD
• 2019 - Yurian Quinones, Princeton
• 2018 - Jacob Wright, UC Davis
• 2018 - AJ Rossman, Stanford
• 2018 - Noah Hodge, Harvard
• 2018 - Chase Petersen, UCLA
• 2018 - Brock Petersen, UCLA
• 2017 - Jack Baumgartner, UCI
• 2016 - Rex Sample, La Verne
• 2016 - Alex Piechuch, US Naval Academy
• 2016 - Tanner Kaplan, CLU
• 2016 - Austin Clark, LMU
• 2015 - Ryan Melosini, Princeton
• 2015 - Sam Slobodien, USC
• 2015 - Spencer Lupin, Pepperdine
• 2015 - Logan Wright, University of Redlands
• 2014 - Garrett Kaltenbach, Long Beach State
• 2014 - Troy Kaltenbach, Long Beach State
• 2014 - Chandler Kaltenbach, Long Beach State
• 2013 - Riley Smith, LMU
• 2012 - Pablo Carballo, UCI
• 2017 - Jack Baumgardner, UCI
• 2013 - Stephen Riggins, UCLA
• 2011 - Tony Vuona, UCI
• 2010 - Rutger Choquehuanca, LMU
• 2009 - Ross Kirkbaumer, George Washington
• 2008 - Tyler Simmons, Concordia
• 2008 - Mike Lockett, Custa
• 2007 - Eric Macey, Cal Maritime
• 2007 - Mark Connor, Fordham
• 2005 - Julien Lormant, LMU
• 2005 - David Husen, UCSB
• 2003 - Tommy Markel, Pacific
• 2003 - Cutberto Hernandez, LMU
• 2002 - Nick Nolan, UCLA
• 1998 - Tyler Wilson, Dartmouth
• 1998 - Justin Kroeze, USC
• 1998 - Chris Ansevin, George Washington
• 1997 - Trevor Walsh, Princeton
• 1996 - Stephen Ferguson, Long Beach State
• 1994 - Paul Ferguson, Air Force