Jack Larsen didn’t always look the part.

When he arrived at UCLA as a 195-pound freshman in 2018, few would have pegged him as the future hero of a national championship run – let alone the next American to suit up for the most elite water polo club in the world.

But, six years later, with a national title and a professional contract secured in Italy, Larsen’s path from redshirt to record books cemented his legacy in Bruin history.

In his final collegiate game, Larsen delivered a goal with 13 seconds on the clock that sealed UCLA men’s water polo championship win over USC – an exclamation mark on a career built in the weight room, film room and quiet early mornings when no one was watching.

Coach Adam Wright said he remembers when Larsen first walked onto the deck.

“He was always tall but so thin,” Wright said. “His freshman year, he made a commitment with our strength coach and nutritionist, and the physical change in that redshirt year – I’ve never seen anything like it.”

After his sixth season, Larsen was 250 pounds and an anchor in the pool. But it wasn’t just the muscle that transformed him.

“For me, the most important thing has been his mental growth,” Wright said. “A few years ago, I don’t know if he has the confidence to take that final shot. But the version of Jack that finished here? He knew he could do it – that’s earned confidence. That’s the real victory.”

After redshirting his freshman year, the attacker played in 94 of 96 games across his next four seasons, ranking second on the team in total points and assists across the 2023 season – a far cry from the smaller athlete who joined in 2019.

Larsen wasn’t just a late bloomer. He was a culture-changer.

“He raised the bar in how we train, how we lift, how we swim, how we carry ourselves,” Wright said. “He went through every phase you can go through as a student-athlete, and that made him able to connect with anyone.”

Even as a sixth-year and graduate student, Wright recounts how Larsen was first on deck and last to leave.

“When the president of (Pro) Recco reached out, I told him,‘You’ll never question Jack’s effort, or his character,’” Wright said. “That’s why he’s there. He earned it.”

And after graduating from UCLA in fall 2024, just weeks after earning the school’s 124th NCAA championship title, Larsen went to Italy after being recruited by Pro Recco, an professional Italian water polo club with the most successful record in its league.

The jump from the NCAA to Serie A1 in Italy hasn’t been easy. Larsen admits that the size and tactical complexity of the European game has been a challenge.

“But Adam gave me the tools to adjust,” the Orinda, California, local said. “I was able to figure it out.”

In the recent finals of Serie A1, Larsen faced off against AN Brescia’s Max Irving – another Bruin-turned-international star.

And while recent Team USA bronze-medal Olympian Irving was the only AN Brescia player to score multiple goals in game three of the final series, Larsen ultimately helped Pro Recco to its 37th title in the Italian Championships.

“I grew up watching Max,” Larsen said. “To play against him on that stage was surreal. I was just grateful.”

Part of what made Larsen’s swan song so memorable was who shared it with him: his younger brother, Ben, a redshirt sophomore utility on the 2024 squad.

“Honestly, it was like a dream come true,” Ben said. “In high school, I was JV, he was varsity — we never really got to play together. So getting to win a championship with my actual brother in his final season? That was awesome.”

Jack didn’t let blood cloud competition, though. Practices came with a dose of tough love.

“I always tried to instill in him what I learned,” Jack said. “I was there for the hard moments, but I wasn’t going easy on him either.”

That balance paid off. Ben absorbed his brother’s example and his work ethic.

“He’s inspired me my whole life,” Ben said. “He was never the biggest, never the top recruit. But he grinded, and now he’s the second American ever to play for Pro Recco. That taught me anything’s possible.”

For Wright, Jack Larsen’s story is one of his favorites.

“He started at the bottom,” the coach said. “Now he’s on the best team in the world. That doesn’t happen by accident. That’s what happens when you invest. Jack earned everything he’s got.”

And now, halfway across the world, he’s still earning it on the sport’s biggest stage.