Before his time with UC San Diego’s club team, Loh’s water polo journey began at Troy High School in California’s Orange County. The Fullerton, Calif., native earned several accolades, twice being named First Team All-Freeway League in addition to a First Team All-CIF Southern Section Division 3 honor. Also a competitive swimmer in high school, Loh graduated in 2022.

“I started as a freshman, and by my senior year I was playing pretty well,” he said. “I had some offers from Division III and lower-level Division I schools, but I ended up choosing UC San Diego solely for the academics.”

Loh initially hoped to walk on to UC San Diego’s team as a college freshman. He reached out to the Tritons’ coaching staff multiple times, but didn’t hear back. 

The idea to join the school’s club team crossed his mind, but he wasn’t ready yet. “I felt like pursuing D1 or stepping away from water polo altogether,” Loh explained. 

That changed during his sophomore year when he met one of the club water polo team’s presidents, who invited him to come to practice. Loh enjoyed it and decided to continue playing, eventually becoming a key part of the team. 

Loh’s timing and opportunity with the club squad aligned perfectly with the team’s needs. 

“He came in at the time when we were actually looking for a second goalie,” said coach Mendoza. “Coincidentally, one of our other goalies ended up going to play for an NCAA team, so it’s kind of a funny story now that I think about it.”

Over time, Loh became a key asset for the club’s aggressive defense. “We played a very aggressive defensive style and I think he fit in perfectly”, said Mendoza.

Mendoza also emphasized Loh’s intelligence and humility. 

“Winston is just incredibly smart in the game of water polo”, he said. “He sees the game differently, especially from a goalie’s perspective, and that really helps us defensively. He could identify shooting threats and knew what we needed to look for on defense, whether he’s in the water or on the sidelines. He’s also really humble — you wouldn’t think he was a high-level player because he doesn’t talk about it much. He just wants to help the team, and sometimes he doesn’t give himself enough credit.”

Mendoza admitted he hadn’t anticipated Winston would make the jump to NCAA water polo. 

“Winston was very focused on school as a biology major and pre-med. It just didn’t seem like he was going that route”.