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Since taking up a scholarship at University of Hawaii in 2024, Aggie Weston has helped her college team secure the number one spot in the Big West Conference in their 2026 season.
It caps off a big few years for the Lyttelton water polo player. In 2022 she helped the under 21 Canterbury women’s team to their first national title in 20 years, where she won most valuable player of the tournament.
In 2023 she was picked for New Zealand’s national women’s side, the White Caps, and announced her move to the United States.
In Hawaii, she trains up to 25 hours a week while studying geography and environmental science majors.
Her team travels every other week from January through May to compete in their conference and tournaments and Weston said she has developed incredibly with the help of her coach.
She has made a name for herself on the American stage securing Big West’s MVP and earning All-American second team honours this season.
Weston said it meant a lot to her to go from Canterbury to the big stage.
“My biggest why (reason to play) is for the young girls who kind of follow me. There are not many people from Canterbury who have gone and played overseas, and it’s definitely a huge part of my why and it pushes me.”
The Canterbury Water Polo club is one of four water polo clubs in the South Island.
Weston said it was the classic “younger sibling story” that got her into the sport at age 11, watching older sister Eve play.
“I was always sitting at the pool waiting for her to be finished and obviously I could swim pretty well because we grew up as competitive swimmers. I jumped in one of them (trainings) and it just stuck.”
The club’s small size gave Weston the opportunity to train with older age groups and alongside boys, accelerating her development.
“Everyone got thrown in together. I think that’s why I stuck with it because I had an image of what I could possibly be,” she said.
Her old coach, Cooper Stewart, said Weston was often selected in age group teams older than her and was always the best player in her team.
In 2022 she made her first national side for the youth world championships in Serbia where New Zealand placed in the top eight.
“It was so exciting to wear the fern, and it will always be so special,” said Weston.
The following year she was selected in the national under 20 team for the world championships in Portugal that also placed in the top eight.
But she said her career highlight was helping the Canterbury under 21 team take out its first national title in two decades.
Teammate Scarlett Goldsworthy praised Weston’s impact.
“She was a big positive character, always very uplifting. It is so reflective of her to say that’s her biggest achievement because she has so much pride in Canterbury Water Polo,” said Goldsworthy.
Goldsworthy and Stewart both say Weston is one of the best current players in New Zealand.
“I think it’s both physically, but also mentally, like she just has such a positive attitude,” said Goldsworthy.
Said Stewart: “Watching her go from seven years old, barely learning how to swim, to now being one of the premier players in the world is pretty exciting.”
Having already achieved her goal to play in the United States, Weston will play for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) next season where she hopes to achieve her next goal of winning a national championship.