Former water polo player alleges sexual, racial abuse at elite LA school

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An 18-year-old water polo player from Bel Air says he has dreams of one day playing in the Olympics.

But Aidan Romain, who played at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, said his time there was an absolute nightmare.

Romain has now filed a lawsuit against the school, its president, his old coach and one of his former teammates, alleging repeated incidents of sexual assault and racial attacks.

"It was very difficult on a daily basis to deal with the racial abuse and the sexual abuse," said Romain, who is currently living in Barcelona, Spain.

"The racial abuse and sexual abuse was a daily basis thing," he added. "It happened in nearly every training; it would happen many times daily, sometimes outside of the pool. So, it was certainly a difficult experience."

According to Romain's lawsuit, "The abuse was not spontaneous. It was part of a years-long culture in which violence and humiliation were normalized and facilitated through the school's coaching staff and administration."

The lawsuit names former Harvard-Westlake water polo player Lucca Van Der Woude as a defendant.

"The complaint walks through a myriad of allegations of racial abuse ranging from Aidan being called the N-word to being literally whipped with exercise bands in the weight room supposedly re-enacting slavery," said attorney Daniel Watkins, who represents Romain in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Van Der Woude sexually assaulted Romain repeatedly, inside the weight room and underwater in the pool.

"The core of the lawsuit is that the school failed to protect Aidan," said Watkins. "They failed to report the assaults as they were occurring to law enforcement."

According to the lawsuit, Romain's parents notified school administrators of one of the attacks in an email in February 2024.

But according to a letter sent by the Harvard-Westlake's attorney, "at no time... did either Mr. or Mrs. Romain report that Aidan had been a victim of sexual assault."

A Harvard-Westlake spokesperson released the following statement to Eyewitness News:

"Harvard-Westlake will not offer specific comment other than to say that it unequivocally disputes many of these allegations that mischaracterize facts and the school's actions," read the statement.

"The school treated reports of inappropriate behavior in its water polo program with urgency and seriousness, promptly initiating an investigation and complying with its mandatory reporting obligations.

"The school also cooperated completely with law enforcement."

Van Der Woude's attorney also released a statement to Eyewitness News.

"We do not intend to litigate this matter in the media," said attorney Michael Artan in an email to Eyewitness News. "Mr. Van Der Woude's denials and other responses will be clear and unambiguous in his defense to the Complaint at hand."

Romain said he hopes to return to the United States soon and play water polo for an Ivy League university.

"Part of the reason why I'm speaking up and standing up for myself is so that others don't have to be in these kinds of situations," said Romain. "I hope that people who are experiencing these kind of things know that they're not alone."