A former Harvard-Westlake water polo player is suing the high school, alleging she endured years of sexual and racial abuse by teammates while administrators turned a blind eye to protect star Lucca van der Woude.
Aidan Romain claims that, from August 2022 until February 2024, Van der Woude repeatedly approached him and called him the N-word, abuse that Romain claims continued even after he reported it to his coach and school administrators.
Van der Woude was arrested by Los Angeles police on school grounds in February 2024, the complaint said. The school then acted to “cover up” Van der Woude’s behavior and facilitate his transfer to a high school with a clean record, the lawsuit alleges. At the time, Van der Woude was a respected member of the USA Water Polo national team, a designated mentor for young players and a strong future contender for the US Men’s Olympic team.
In November 2024, Van der Woude admitted in juvenile court that he accessed the computer of a minor, the complaint notes, referring to a report from the Orange County Register. In March 2025, the court ordered him to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution to Romain, according to the complaint.
In a statement, Harvard-Westlake said it “unequivocally disputes many of these allegations that misrepresent the facts and actions of the school.” Michael Artan, the lawyer who represents Van der Woude, said that he does not intend to “take his case to the media” and that “Mr.’s denial
Romain says the abuse he endured on the team was “a drumbeat that grew more and more damaging over time” in a lawsuit filed by the Studio City school, school President Richard Commons, head of the water polo program Jack Grover and water polo player Van der Woude in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.
The complaint says she faced “sexual harassment in the pool, in the locker room, in the bathrooms, and throughout the Harvard Westlake campus. Incessant racial taunts became a daily routine.”
The alleged abuse began when Romain was 14 years old and excited to be the only member of the school’s varsity water polo team, the lawsuit said. But that joy turned to fear when, in his first tests with the team in August 2022, Van der Woude entered him underwater, Romain said in a suit.
At the time, Romain said nothing, fearing that speaking out against the star player “would cost him everything: his place on the team, the respect of his coaches, and the future he has worked so hard to build,” the complaint said. But the sexual harassment continued, as did Van der Woude and other players targeted by Romain, according to the complaint.
In her victim witness impact statement filed in juvenile court and included in the complaint, Romain said it was “very stressful” going to practice every day and being called the N-word and “worrying that Lucca is going to stick his finger in my anus, and face the hate of the whole team.”
“It made it difficult for me to focus on my school work, in the classroom, in the pool and to develop and trust healthy relationships,” she said, according to the complaint. Victim impact statements are not sworn statements in juvenile court.
In the spring of 2023, Romain’s parents met several times with Grover, the team’s coach, and Harvard-Westlake administrators to discuss their concerns related to the “toxic and abusive culture on the boys’ polo team,” according to the complaint.
In October of that year, the complaint says, Van der Woude and another colleague whipped Romain with a rope in the weight room while ordering him to “get back to work!” They also complained that they couldn’t see Romain because his skin was too dark, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, Romain’s parents continued to meet with the coach and management to discuss their son’s racial abuse, according to the complaint, which also says that in December 2023 they learned of the sexual abuse their son was experiencing and brought it up to management.
On December 13, 2023, together with two deans, Romain took a pillow “folded it in half, and put his finger in the crease to clearly show” how he was abused by Van der Woude, according to the complaint. Despite receiving the sexual abuse report, the school did not contact law enforcement or child protective services as required by law, the complaint said.
In a statement, the school said it handled reports of inappropriate behavior on the water polo team “promptly and seriously,” that it complies with mandatory reporting obligations and is cooperating with law enforcement.
After the meeting with the management, the abuse of Romain increased again in Feb. 13, 2024, was beaten in the shower by another colleague who “forcefully grabbed the Complainant’s penis while hitting him on the testicles,” according to the complaint.
His parents reported the attack to the school on February 20, 2024, the lawsuit said. Two weeks later, Van der Woude was arrested at school and banned from playing on the school team, the complaint said.
Romain says in the lawsuit that he left Harvard-Westlake at the end of that school year and moved to Barcelona to escape and continue to pursue his water polo training.
He is seeking damages in the amount to be proven at trial and an injunction ordering Harvard-Westlake to take steps to prevent any current or future sexual harassment of students.
“This case stems from a profound and inexcusable injustice,” his lawyer Daniel Watkins said in a statement. “The truth is laid bare in this complaint – unwavering, unwavering, undeniable. We welcome our day in court.”
