Community Spotlight | By Jocklyn Mundy | Photos by the family
In Windermere, the water is never far away. Roads bend toward the lakes, docks reach out from backyards, and childhoods here have a way of drifting toward the shoreline. For Alec Johnson, that pull did not begin as a love for a game that would take him all over the world.
He started water polo in fifth grade as cross-training for swimming, and for three long years, he would have gladly walked away. His father kept driving him to practice anyway. Then, somewhere around eighth grade, something shifted. The game took hold, and it never let go.
Home Waters
At Olympia High School, Alec found his footing. He lettered all four years in both swimming and water polo, earned three NISCA All-American honors, and scored 309 career goals. The numbers were impressive, but the bond with his teammates meant more. They were, in his words, “literally, like brothers.”
In 2018, he scored five goals and added two assists in the state championship match as Olympia claimed the Florida title. Years later, he would still name “winning the state championship sophomore year” his greatest athletic thrill.
Earning His Place
His success at Olympia opened doors to USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program and a spot on UCLA’s 2020 roster. From there, Alec trained in Nice, France, with the club Olympic Nice Natation, his first taste of the game beyond American shores.
At Golden West College, he helped the Rustlers win back-to-back state championships and earned First Team All-State honors in the title game. He closed his college career at Long Beach State, playing in every game across two seasons, including a run to the NCAA Championships.
At center, Alec plants himself in front of the goal with his back to it, wrestling a defender for position while treading water. Half the job is scoring. The other half is getting fouled on purpose. At Long Beach State, he drew 55 ejections against opposing defenders in two seasons.
It is hard, honest work, and he has always embraced it.
Far From Home
In 2026, Alec signed with the Hunter Hurricanes in Newcastle, Australia. Asked to name his strengths, he kept it simple: “hustle and center-forward play.”
New Zealand came next. Alec joined Tauranga Water Polo Club and lived with a welcoming host family and a close friend. The season landed in the record books when Tauranga won its fifth consecutive national title, a first in league history. He also helped coach the club’s under-18 team, which went on to win the New Zealand Cup. For the first time, Alec was passing the game on, much the way his coaches once passed it to him.
These days, he plays center for the Nautical Club of Chios, one of Greece’s oldest active water polo clubs. In the country that gave the world the Olympic Games, he now plays one of the first team sports ever added to them, a long way from the lakes of home.
Where It All Began
For all the miles behind him, his answer comes easily when asked what he misses most about home. His friends. When he once listed his hobbies, friends came first, ahead of weightlifting and eating.
Family keeps him tied to Windermere. His parents, Tom and Andrea, live on Lake Bessie. His older brother, Christian, travels the country for work.
A small lakeside town started a pull that has carried him across the world. Wherever the game takes him next, Alec will always call Windermere home.
