Doug Peabody knows how to win.
Throughout his storied career as a water polo coach, he has won 32 boys and girls CIF San Diego Section championships at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla and 35 national championships at the San Diego Shores Water Polo Club.
He’s also developed 450 athletes for college and coached 13 future Olympians.
“He just really hates losing,” said his son Lukas Peabody, Bishop’s recent CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year. “No one likes that feeling, but it really pains him more than it does others.”
“If there is one thing he knows how to do, it is win. His No. 1 goal is always to win,” said Julia Bonaguidi, a former star for Peabody at Bishop’s who now plays water polo at UC Berkeley.
As a testament to Peabody’s decades of success and influence in the sport, he was inducted in June into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
“It was incredible to be acknowledged for all the hard work I did to put San Diego on the map for water polo,” Peabody said. “Being honored for it shows [it] did not go unnoticed.”
Peabody credits his success to the relationships he builds with his players every season.
“My teams are built through the individual athletes,” he said. “I try to identify with each of my players on an individual basis. The programs I coach at Bishop’s and Shores have achieved so much success because of how we treat and value each and every player. I want people to feel warm, wanted and blessed coming to practice and games every day.”
Lukas, who will begin his freshman season at Harvard University in September, said his father’s “genuine relationship” with his players helps him get the best out of them, “not only in the pool but also as people.”
Bonaguidi said Peabody has become a “father figure” and “close friend.” He is “just an amazing person,” she said.
In 2018, Peabody suffered a heart attack. While he was hospitalized for several days in Los Angeles, many of his past and present players from Bishop’s and Shores visited him and gave him get-well cards.
“It let me know how much I was loved by my players,” Peabody said.
Part of the reason he cares strongly about connecting with each of his players is his upbringing, he said.
“My dad left when I was very young, so I guess that has made me really try to be like a second father for my players,” Peabody said. “I try to be there for them inside and outside the pool and help them grow up and have opportunities to succeed in life. Doing that for all these kids brings me a lot of joy.”
Peabody was introduced to water polo at a young age and eventually played under Hall of Fame coach Dick Draz at Crawford High School.
After taking time off between high school and college, Peabody played water polo at San Diego Mesa College before staying to coach the team with Draz.
Peabody said Draz, who died last September at age 92, had an influence on him as a coach and mentor and that he’s honored to be in the Hall of Fame with him.
“I just wish that I could share it with him in person,” Peabody said. “We had talked about being there together hopefully someday.”
Peabody’s coaching career after San Diego Mesa College has been almost entirely at Bishop’s and Shores. Peabody started the latter in 1992 when he noticed “a need for it” in San Diego.
“At the time, there were really only three competitive water polo high schools in San Diego. So a lot of kids were looking for a team,” he said. “I noticed water polo clubs starting in Los Angeles and Orange County, so I decided to start one in San Diego.”
Five years later, Jim Fales, the water polo coach at Bishop’s, offered him the opportunity to start a girls team at the school. Peabody accepted immediately, considering it “an opportunity to coach a great group of kids.”
Though he’s had a long career loaded with success, retirement doesn’t seem to be on Peabody’s mind.
“As long as I am able to meaningfully contribute to Bishop’s and Shores and help change kids’ lives, I will keep on coaching,” he said. “I see myself in and around this sport for a while longer.”
Next up for Peabody is the new fall season with the Bishop’s boys team, which last season was runner-up to Cathedral Catholic High School in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship game. ♦
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