Luca Cupido

Luca Cupido ( ; born November 9, 1995) is an Italian-born American water polo player who was a four-time All American at the University of California, Berkeley, winning the Peter J. Cutino Award as the top collegiate player of the year in 2018. He was part of the American water polo team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, that finished in tenth place. He was later part of the US water polo team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that finished in sixth place, and the US water polo team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, that finished in third place, winning a bronze medal, the first since 2008.

Early life Cupido was born November 9, 1995 in Genoa, Genova, Italy and grew up in the suburb of Santa Margherita Ligure. He was part of the youth program at Rari Nantes Camogli, in Camogli, Liguria, Italy. Cupido played with youth national teams in Italy, capturing titles at both the U18 and U20 age group World Championships, and the U19 European Championship. He later attended Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California, where he made All American first team honors with their strong water polo program in 2013 and was coached by Robert Lynn, a 2000 Water Polo Olympian. In club play, he competed for the Newport Beach Water Polo Club.

Pan American games Cupido captured a gold medal with the U.S. National team at the Pan American Games in 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was one of the US National team's highest scorers that year. With an exceptional career at Berkeley, he was a 2018 Peter J. Cutino Award winner, an honor given only to the most outstanding American collegiate water polo player of the year. Cupido was an All American in four years, and was a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Newcomer of the Year in 2014 as a Freshman, where he scored a total of 42 goals. In one of his most outstanding seasons in 2017, he played nearly every field position, and was credited with 46 assists, 48 season steals, and had 19 field blocks.

2020 Tokyo Olympics In 2021, Cupido was nominated for his second Olympics with Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Once again playing for U.S. Head Coach Dejan Udovičić, the United States team finished sixth with Serbia taking the gold medal, Greece taking the silver, and Hungary taking the gold.

2024 Paris Olympics In 2024, Cupido participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the water polo competition where the U.S. team won a third place bronze medal under Head Coach Dejan Udovičić.

European club play In professional and European-based water polo, Cupido has played for CC Ortigia in his native Italy, and played with Barcelona in Spain in the 2022-23 season. He had formerly played for Italy's Pro Recco and Camogli in Serie A2. In the 2025-2026 season, he signed with Italy's Nordic League-based Rari Nantes Sori team, near his native town of Liguria and coached by Willy Molina.