Stevens helps Harvard make history

The self-described “beach kid,” who went to high school a few blocks from Newport Bay and grew up in a place where it’s summer nine months a year, made the 3,000-mile transition to a storied Ivy League institution in the frigid northeast without missing a beat.

OK, so it might have taken Dan Stevens, the former Newport Harbor High water polo standout, a year or so to adjust to the Boston winters while attending Harvard.

But in the pool, the senior two-meter defender was a key contributor to Harvard’s most successful season in the university’s 36-year history of water polo.

Stevens was a member of a Crimson squad that finished the 2016 season at 27-7, defeated 13 ranked opponents and notched 20-win seasons the past three years, all program firsts.

Harvard this season reached the NCAA Championships for the first time and advanced to the Final Four by knocking off No. 12 Bucknell and No. 9 UC Davis.

Harvard’s season ended with a 19-4 semifinal loss against then No.1 USC at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkley on Dec. 3.

The Crimson ended the season ranked ninth in the nation.

“It is pretty cool to be a member of a senior class to do what we accomplished,” Stevens said. “[And] for bringing the culture from what it was to what it is now.”

Stevens finished the 2016 campaign with 33 goals, 22 assists and 14 steals, was named to the Northeast Water Polo Conference first team and was given the Coaches’ Award from Coach Dan Minnis for his attitude and work ethic and for switching to two-meter defender for his senior season.

For his career, Stevens notched 120 goals, 108 assists and 84 steals.

“Dan has been a huge part of the success of our program over the last four years, and he was the reason we were able to do the things we did on defense,” Minnis said. “He will do whatever is asked of him in the pool to help the team be successful. He is hard working and very dedicated to being the best student, water polo player and teammate he can be.”

Stevens will be missed “in and out of the pool,” the coach added.

Along with battling sore shoulders, Stevens also played the last four games of the season with a broken nose.

“I just got popped by somebody,” he said of the injury, which occurred against rival Princeton in the semifinal of the Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship on Nov. 12.

Stevens was given a cumbersome face guard to wear for protection, but tossed it during practice and toughed it out down the stretch.

“I didn’t think about it much,” he said.

A 2013 Newport Harbor graduate, Stevens was part of Harvard’s recruiting class of that year, which included El Toro’s Joey Colton.

At Harvard, Stevens and Colton joined Noah Harrison of Huntington Beach as a powerful coalition of Orange County players, now seniors, who helped the Crimson rise to prominence in the pool.

Prior to 2013, Harvard hadn’t a winning season since going 10-9 in 2004.

“There wasn’t much support for water polo,” Stevens said of the vibe on campus early in his Harvard career.

But support broadened as the team improved each year.

“We definitely caught the attention of the campus,” he said.

A two-time All-CIF-Southern Section Division 1 first-team selection, three-time USA Water Polo Academic All-American and Sunset League Player of the Year, Stevens was recruited as much for academics as prowess in the pool.

Suitors included the United States Naval Academy, Princeton, Brown and USC.

“I wanted to be an immediate contributor and Harvard was a place I knew that could happen,” Stevens said.

The institution’s 380-year history was also a draw, he said.

Growing up on Orange County beaches, Stevens knew the atmosphere and the vibe would be different at Harvard, located in Cambridge, Mass., a suburb of Boston.

“I had no expectations,” he said.

Once he got there, Stevens told his parents to stop teasing him with photos of Mexican food and the oceans in Orange County.

Stevens, who is majoring in government, assimilated to the region rather quickly.

He’ll be home for a month during the winter break, but he’ll be studying in preparation for his final semester at Harvard.

After graduation, Stevens will spend one more summer back in O.C. as a Newport Beach lifeguard.

He’ll spend time with his parents and sister Dinny Stevens, a Newport High junior member of the swim team.

But then it’s back to Boston, where Stevens has already accepted a job as a financial adviser for McAdam Financial in Boston.

Stevens said he can picture himself as a Bostonian for several years.

“I like the opportunity I’ve had here,” he said of Boston. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”