On the water polo team, senior Ferran De Witt is a leader — not just in goals and steals, but of the whole team’s sense of community. Leaving his remarkable four-year varsity legacy at Los Altos High School, Ferran will dive into the next chapter of his athletic career, playing Division I water polo at Saint Mary’s College of California while majoring in film.
“They have a really good film program that’s going to give me opportunities for my future past my career in water polo,” Ferran said.
Ferran began playing water polo at age 11 at his current club, NorCal Aquatics, encouraged by his sister, Lianna De Witt ‘24. Almost immediately, he said he succeeded in his position and found a passion for the sport.
“My under-14s coach had this saying, ‘Passion, intensity, desire,’” Ferran said. “That stuck with me and really hit my heart.”
His hard work paid off, according to varsity water polo head coach Seth Tasman. With 150 high school career goals, 120 assists, 184 steals and 80 ejections drawn, Ferran was the leading defender on the Los Altos High School team and was named Most Valuable Player for his senior season.
“He led in almost every statistic, and he’s always pushing his teammates to be better,” Tasman said.
Ferran helped the varsity team win CCS Division I and finish as NorCal runner-up in 2024, and make CCS Open Division in 2025. He also earned first-team All-SCVAL and second-team All-CCS, showing his dominance across the region.
“He’s been a major backbone in helping our program become one of the top public schools in all of CCS,” Tasman said.
Ferran also said he’s superstitious — on game day, he has a few rituals he can’t forgo.
“I have to always have all these suits in my bag — if I don’t, I won’t play that well,” Ferran said. “And every time I score, I don’t celebrate at all. I put my head underwater, I open my mouth and I make this really high-pitched scream.”
Beyond his athletic performance and superstition, Ferran has made a mark on his team with his positivity, leadership and sportsmanship.
“He was a total team player,” Ferran’s dad Eugene De Witt said. “If he saw a guy with a better position in the pool, he would always pass the ball to him, though he could have scored himself.”
Ferran’s strengths all throughout his high school and club career opened doors for recruitment — in his junior year, he started cold-emailing coaches and communicating with colleges until he received his dream offer from Saint Mary’s.
“During fifth period, they called me and they said, ‘We want to offer you a spot,’” Ferran said. “I didn’t know what to say. I’ve been working for so many years for this.”
Ferran will represent the Gaels this fall, where he’s already connected with coaches and future teammates. It’s a dream he had since eighth grade come true.
“I wanted to be good, but [one] night it just snapped for me and I said, ‘I don’t want to just be an average player — I want to be above average. I want to be better,’” Ferran said.
However, throughout his career, Ferran said he’s struggled with the mental battle that comes with water polo, forcing him to recenter his focus and regain trust in himself.
“I came out of a great club season, and then out of nowhere, my confidence just disappeared,” Ferran said. “So I was fighting those thoughts of, ‘Am I really that good? Can I play DI?’”
Even so, Ferran bounced back and stayed on track to his goals — it’s one ability that Ferran’s friends and family said he’s best at.
“I’m really proud that when he makes a mistake, he doesn’t let it keep him down,” Eugene De Witt said. “He just goes back in there and corrects it.”
His teammates also know him as a positive force on the team.
“He’s always so positive, and he’s such a wholesome figure in my life,” teammate freshman Aiden Chen said.
Now, he’s ready to make waves at the DI level and explore his potential at Saint Mary’s.
“I’ll cook some stuff up, and people will know my name,” Ferran said.
