Mana Wahine: Hawaii Women’s Water Polo Utility Agatha Weston

HONOLULU – Agatha Weston’s childhood foreshadowed the life she would lead.

Born in Hong Kong, Weston spent her early years making friends from all different backgrounds. Living in an expat community that consisted of two blocks of apartments sandwiching a rugby-sized park, the Kiwi found herself playing with kids around her own age from Australia, Great Britain and many other places.

“It was a pretty fun upbringing,” Weston recalled. “I think the competitiveness from that community has carried through and really shaped the athlete I am.”

Her family made the move to Christchurch in New Zealand when Weston reached the end of primary school, setting Weston’s developmental years into full speed as she tried her hand at a variety of sports.

There was the consistent time in the pool, following behind her older sister’s path through the water polo ranks. But Weston also credits Surf Lifesaving as the other sport with a massive impact on her life.

“When I wasn’t in the pool, I was in the ocean,” Weston said.

She spent her summers at the beach in New Zealand, participating in the popular sport of Surf Lifesaving. A volunteer-based activity turned into sport, Weston tolled hours upon hours in the sun and water while competing in beach rescue events, board races and swim races among many other lifeguarding-like workouts.

Weston admits that part of Hawai’i’s appeal to her for school was the idea of being able to spend her time split between the pool and the beach still. The ocean is as big a part of her life as her sport, which she’s made quite the name in after just over a season of action as a member of the Rainbow Wahine.

Former Big West Player of the Year and multi-time ACWPC All-American selection Bernadette Doyle is the one to thank for Weston’s initial interest and ultimate engagement to Hawai’i. The fellow New Zealand product was a former teammate of Weston’s and consistently posted updates of her journey with the Rainbow Wahine water polo program that were impossible to ignore.

“She was in Hawai’i when I was starting to kind of look at [college options] and it always looked so awesome on her social media,” Weston said of Doyle’s impact on her recruitment. “Then I became good friends with her and that kind of sealed the deal that [Hawai’i] was where I wanted to go. You can ask anyone, I’ve been talking about playing in Hawai’i for the longest time.”

After reaching out to US college coaching staffs with interest in coming over, Weston went off and helped New Zealand win four matches at the 2023 World Aquatics Women’s U20 Water Polo Championships in Portugal. She scored 14 goals against some of the best competition on the planet and helped New Zealand to a top-eight finish and a quarterfinal appearance, six spots higher than the country’s final placement in the event four years prior.

Weston became a hot commodity with multiple west coast schools pursuing her commitment. Luckily for the Rainbow Wahine, Weston loved Doyle’s coaches in Maureen Cole and James Robinson just as much as they loved her.

“I really clicked with James and Mo,” Weston remembered. “I just thought they were so cool. There were other schools in the picture for sure, some California schools, but there was just something about those two … It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Again, Weston would make a big move in location. Again, Weston would play alongside people with backgrounds from across the world.

The 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore utility player burst onto the scene in 2024 as a true freshman, scoring 19 goals, dishing out 14 assists and tallying a total of 29 steals, good for third-most on a UH team that went 23-4 overall and a perfect 7-0 in Big West play on the way to a conference crown and a national semifinal appearance.

Weston earned Big West All-Freshman Team honors for her debut campaign in the pool for the Rainbow Wahine, but her momentum forward was put on pause as she suffered an injury and redshirted in 2025.

“Last season was definitely hard,” Weston said. “I started off thinking that I would just get the knee surgery in the fall and then be cleared to play by January, so I really wasn’t expecting to take the whole year off.”

A self-described “water polo freak” with an obsession for the game, Weston couldn’t wait to get back in the pool with her teammates and compete.

Opposing coaches didn’t forget who she was despite her absence from the pool last season. Weston was one of the three Rainbow Wahine named to the seven-player Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team, checking in alongside junior goalkeeper Daisy Logtens and sophomore attacker Ema Vernoux for the defending conference champions.

Her start to 2026 has only made them look smarter.

Weston has scored in eight of the nine matches she’s played, totaling a team-best 25 goals despite missing the Rainbow Wahine’s February 1 matchup against Long Beach State. Weston even had her early-season hero moment already, coming when she muscled UH to a dramatic 16-15 victory in overtime against UC Irvine on the second day of the Triton Invitational at the end of January, scoring eight goals and taking nine total shots at the net.

Hawai’i is off to a 7-3 start with all three losses coming against opponents ranked in the top five nationally. The Rainbow Wahine kick off conference play on Friday, closing out February on the road against UC Irvine before visiting Long Beach State on Sunday, March 1.

UH’s first home match of the 2026 season is a week from Saturday, taking on UC San Diego on March 7 at 6 p.m. HT at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.