Men's Water Polo
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- dellings@princeton.edu
- Phone:
- 609-258-2625
Derek Ellingson will be in his seventh season as the head coach of the women's water polo program in 2026. He will begin his 21st season working with the Tigers' men's water polo program in the fall of 2025. Prior to joining the Princeton staff in the summer of 2004, Ellingson spent five years coaching at his alma mater, Queens College, first as an assistant and then as the men’s and women’s head coach.
The Princeton men’s team went 23-9 in 2024, winning the Northeast Water Polo Conference title for the fourth straight season. The Tigers collected 11 victories against ranked foes and set a program record with 514 goals.
Head coach Dustin Litvak’s group had four All-Americans including Roko Pozaric who became the fifth player in program history to be named All-American all four seasons. The senior, who was a Cutino Award Finalist, led the Tigers with 75 goals, 37 steals and 90 sprint wins. He also broke the program's all-time goals record, finishing with 281 tallies in his career.
Princeton women's squad went 21-7 overall and recorded 10 ranked victories in 2025. Princeton reached the CWPA Championship game and corralled three All-American selections in Kayla Yelensky, Rachael Carver and Lindsey Lucas. Yelensky, the CWPA MVP, led the team in scoring with 94 goals and 118 points overall, adding 48 drawn ejections and 21 steals. She was the first Tiger to reach 90 goals in a season since Adele McCarthy-Beauvais in 2002 and just the third player to get to that mark overall. She graduated second all-time in career goals with 278.
The Tigers' men's unit set a program record with 28 wins in 2023, winning its third straight NWPC title while also reaching the NCAA Semifinals for the first time ever under the expanded format of the NCAA bracket. The Tigers had three All-Americans highlighted by Pozaric’s first-team honors. He became the first Tiger to ever earn first-team All-America status and was also a Cutino Award finalist.
The Tigers became the first CWPA team to win three straight conference crowns since Navy from 2006-08.
The women’s water polo squad went undefeated in CWPA play in 2024 en route to its second straight conference title and was just the second time the Tigers have won in back-to-back years.
Yelensky was second-team All-America after producing a career-high 69 goals, 23 assists along with 47 drawn ejections and 31 steals. Lucas was honorable mention All-America as she became just the third player in program history to be named CWPA Player of the Year. She went 18-7 this season with a .543 save percentage and 245 saves, adding 23 steals.
In the spring of 2023, the women's team won its conference title for the first time since 2015 with a 12-8 victory over Harvard. The Tigers finished 30-4 overall becoming just the third team in program history record at least 30 victories (2014, 2015). Princeton reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and became the first non-West Coast to get to the Final Four since 2016. The Tigers also had four All-Americans for the first time in Princeton history.
The men's 2022 season saw the men’s team have four All-Americans for the first time ever. It was also the first time that the program had reached the NCAA Quarterfinals in consecutive years following its victory over Fordham. The team's historical season included highlights such as defeating Stanford for the first time in program history and becoming NWPC Conference Champions for the second straight season.
Princeton's men's team defeated Brown and then St. Francis-Brooklyn to earn the 2021 Northeast Water Polo Conference title, collecting the team's sixth conference crown. The Tigers had 11 wins against nationally ranked opponents include a California trip that featured three straight victories over No. 17 Loyola Marymount, No. 10 Pepperdine, and No. 13 UC Irvine. The women's squad went 21-10 in 2022, placing third in the CWPA. The Tigers recorded eight wins over top-25 teams and posted at least 20 victories for the fourth straight full season.
The men's water polo squad went 19-11 in 2018 and won the Northeast Water Polo Conference title. The Tigers finished No. 13 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Varsity Poll after securing the program's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
In his career, Ellingson has been a part of 16 NCAA tournament teams, helping Queens to the tournament in 1997 as a player and taking the Knights back to the tournament in 2002 as head coach. At Princeton, he helped the Tiger men to the 2004, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 NCAA tournaments. Also assisting with the women's side prior to be named head coach, he helped lead the Tigers to nationals in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2023, 2024.
During his tenure in Orange & Black, Ellingson has helped lead Princeton to a total of 12 Southern titles (six for the women - 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 and six for the men - 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015), and seven Eastern crowns (four for the men - 2004, 2009, 2011, 2015 and three for the women - 2012, 2013, 2015).
Born in San Francisco, Ellingson was a high school All-America water polo player at Monte Vista before graduating in 1991. In his senior year, he also started coaching the high school girls' team, guiding the squad to a league title. Ellingson became the junior varsity swim coach at Monte Vista in 1992, when it won the conference championship.
Ellingson received an associate's degree from Grossmont College in 1996 before attending Queens. He was a junior college All-America selection in 1995, when he led Grossmont to a second-place finish in the state championship. At Queens, Ellingson helped lead the 1996 squad to the CWPA Northern Division championship and a second-place finish at Easterns. The following year, Queens finished first at both the Northern and Eastern tournaments to advance to the NCAA Championships. At NCAAs, Queens defeated UC-Davis in the consolation game to become the first school from the East Coast to place as high as third in the national tournament, helping to earn Ellingson All-America accolades.
Ellingson began coaching at his alma mater in 1999 as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 2000. In his first season, he was named the women's New York Division Coach of the Year after guiding Queens to a New York Division championship and sixth-place showing at the Eastern tournament. On the men's side, Queens finished fourth at Easterns in 2000.
After placing second in 2001, Ellingson garnered Northern Coach of the Year honors. The following year the men enjoyed their most successful season, winning championships at Northerns, ECACs and Easterns before placing third at nationals with a consolation game win over UC-San Diego. For his efforts, Ellingson was named the 2002 Eastern Coach of the Year and Northeast Zone Elite Men's Coach of the Year. During his time as head coach at Queens, Ellingson led his teams to a 187-111-2 record.
Ellingson and his wife Caitlin reside in Robbinsville with their sons Tim, Kevin, Brendan, Connor and daughter Nora.
