A Black former water polo player at Harvard-Westlake is suing the elite school, alleging that he endured years of sexual assault and racist harassment by his teammates while the administration turned a blind eye in order to protect star player Lucca van der Woude.
Aidan Romain alleges that, from August 2022 until February 2024, Van der Woude digitally penetrated him repeatedly and called him the N-word, abuse that Romain says continued even after he reported it to his coach and the school administration.
Van der Woude was arrested by Los Angeles police on school grounds in February 2024, the complaint alleges. The school then carried out a “cover-up” of Van der Woude’s behavior and facilitated his transfer to a new high school with a clean record, the lawsuit alleges. At the time, Van der Woude was a prized member of USA Water Poloʼs national youth team, a designated mentor for younger players and a strong future contender for the U.S. Men’s Olympic team.
In November 2024, Van der Woude admitted in juvenile court to having digitally penetrated a minor, the complaint notes, referencing reporting 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 mischaracterize facts and the school’s actions.” Michael Artan, an attorney representing Van der Woude, said he does not intend to “litigate his matter in the media” and that “Mr. Van Der Woude’s denials and other responses will be clear and unambiguous in his defense to the Complaint at hand.”
Romain claims the abuse he endured on the team was “a drumbeat that grew louder and more destructive over time” in a lawsuit filed against the Studio City school, school President Richard Commons, water polo program head Jack Grover and water polo player Van der Woude in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.
The complaint alleges that he faced “sexual assaults in the pool, the locker room, showers, and across Harvard Westlake’s campus. Racial taunts so relentless they became a daily soundtrack. Physical attacks in plain view of adults charged with his care.”
The alleged abuse began when Romain was 14 years-old and thrilled to be the only freshman member of the school’s varsity water polo team, the suit states. But that excitement turned to horror when, at his first practice with the team in August 2022, Van der Woude digitally penetrated him underwater, Romain claimed in the suit.
At the time, Romain said nothing, fearing that speaking up against the star player would “cost him everything: his place on the team, the respect of his coaches, and the future he had worked so hard to build,” the complaint alleges. But the sexual abuse continued, as did the frequent racist slurs that Van der Woude and other players directed at Romain, according to the complaint.
In his victim witness impact statement shared in juvenile court and included in the complaint, Romain said it was “incredibly stressful” to go to practice every day and be called the N-word and “to worry about whether Lucca would stick his finger into my anus, and to deal with the animosity of the entire team.”
“It made it very difficult for me to concentrate on my school work, in class, in the pool and to develop and trust healthy relationships,” he said, according to the complaint. Victim witness impact statements are not sworn statements in juvenile court.
In spring 2023, Romain’s parents met multiple times with Grover, the team coach, and Harvard-Westlake administrators to discuss concerns relating to “a toxic and abusive culture on the boys’ water polo team,” according to the complaint.
In October that year, the complaint claims, Van der Woude and another teammate whipped Romain in the weight room with a rope while ordering him to “get back to work!” They also frequently complained that they couldn’t see Romain because his skin is too dark, according to the complaint.
That fall, Romain’s parents continued to meet with the coach and administrators to discuss the racial harassment of their son, according to the complaint, which also says that in December 2023 they learned of the sexual abuse their son was facing and brought it forward it to administrators.
During a Dec. 13, 2023, meeting with two deans, Romain grabbed a pillow “folded it in half, and inserted his finger into the crease to demonstrate clearly” how he was abused by Van der Woude, according to the complaint. Despite receiving this report of sexual abuse, the school did not contact law enforcement or child protective services as required by law, the complaint alleges.
In a statement, the school said it treated reports of inappropriate behavior on the water polo team “with urgency and seriousness,” that it complied with mandatory reporting obligations and cooperated with law enforcement.
After the meeting with the deans, the abuse against Romain escalated and on Feb. 13, 2024, he was assaulted in the shower by a different teammate who “forcefully grabbed Plaintiff’s penis while simultaneously striking him in the testicle,” according to the complaint.
His parents reported this assault to the school on Feb. 20, 2024, the lawsuit states. Around two weeks later, Van der Woude was arrested on campus and prohibited from playing on the school team, the complaint states.
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 an amount to be proven at trial and an injunction ordering Harvard-Westlake to take steps to prevent any current or future sexual abuse against students.
“This lawsuit is born of a profound and unforgivable injustice,” his attorney Daniel Watkins said in a statement. “The truth is laid bare in the complaint — unvarnished, unflinching, undeniable. We welcome our day in court.”
