Fortuitous Path Has Made Greg Mescall the Voice of Water Polo
One part of Greg Mescall’s dual career path had been ingrained from a young age. The second came by random chance early in that professional career.
Mescall has always been drawn to sports and to their presentation. He was the kid that would spend the off games when he and friends played 2-on-2 providing play-by-play commentary on the games still on the court – sometimes to himself, sometimes to a camcorder.
“I always thought it was so cool that every sports moment that you loved, there was a voice, a soundtrack, to that big moment,” Mescall said recently. “And so it was clear that I was never going to be the guy making the Big Shot. Maybe I could be the voice that was narrating the Big Shot.”
The second direction wasn’t so preordained. Mescall was working at Wagner College’s sports information department, a small enough operation that required everyone to do a little of everything. He got assigned two primary sports, swimming and track and field. But when given the option of another responsibility, he picked water polo more or less at random, and certainly with no prior knowledge of the game.
“I had met the women’s water polo coach in passing a week prior, and he seemed like a good dude,” Mescall said. “And so I said, I’ll do the water polo thing. I’m already doing swimming. I’m already at the pool. And that launched me into this world of water polo.”
Nearly 20 years later, it’s proven a fateful decision. Mescall has grown his career along both tracks, as a broadcaster who has worked a plethora of college events and the Olympics. That has shared time on his schedule with his position as USA Water Polo’s Chief Content and Growth Officer, which includes broadcasting in addition to the all-purpose mission of growing the game for a national program that is among the world’s premier.
Navigating two very different roles is something in which Mescall takes immense pride.
“I’ve always loved it because it provides good balance, and it provides an opportunity to work with other professionals who are really dedicated to their craft,” he said. “It’s great to interact with other coaches. And then in a lot of cases, I’ve been able to bring some of that stuff back to water polo — how to improve some productions, or how to add some elements to different shows.
“So it’s been a nice blend of things, but it can get a little hectic. The Google Calendar is definitely my friend, for sure.”
Behind the mic
Mescall always aspired to work in sports. He grew up an avid sports fan in New Jersey and started doing public address announcing for his local Pop Warner football league at age 13. He earned his degree in communications at Monmouth, taking part in on-campus media and finding his way into internships and entry-level gigs in the New York media market. He interned for the New York Giants and worked as a production assistant logging tapes at WCBS before joining Wagner in 2003, where he was studying for a master’s degree, to do sports information and broadcast work.
Greg Mescall, center, with his broadcasting crew for Athletes Unlimited women’s basketball with Sheryl Swoopes, left, and Ari Chambers
On the side, he continued to pursue sports broadcasting, mainly as a freelancer. His credits are nearly too numerous to name: Play-by-play for the ESPN family of networks since 2013, covering college football, basketball, volleyball and water polo. College football and Olympics coverage for Westwood One. Play-by-play for the dearly departed Pac-12 Networks. Biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski-jumping and other winter sports for the Olympic Channel. College basketball for Fox Sports. Women’s professional football in Queens. Fill out a mad lib of network, sport and medium and it’s likely Mescall has either done it or gotten close.
That doesn’t mean that Mescall is an expert in everything. But he learned quickly how to jump into a domain, find the relevant information and people to talk to, and devise a way to package that for viewers. A big part of that is not making himself the attraction.
“You can provide the nuts and bolts: The who, the why, the what, the where, the journalistic stuff,” he said. “You don’t have to act like you grew up competing in biathlon since you were five years old, because you didn’t do it. And if you try to be more than you are in some of those sports, especially when you’re learning, I think you’re going to expose yourself really quickly.”
Being in a media market as deep as New York let him make connections in the business early, which deepened his appetite for polishing his craft.
“He’s a pro, first and foremost,” said long-time NFL and college basketball announcer Ian Eagle. “That is the ultimate compliment in our business. Where you can jump in and you can engage at the level that he does in a variety of sports, means that you have a thirst for knowledge, you enjoy immersing yourself. And I think what has impressed me most is you have to have a chameleon-like personality in order to juggle the roles that he juggles over the course of a year.”
Eagle was one of the broadcasters that Mescall encountered early and has become a mentor. Established as he has become as a national voice, Eagle had gotten his break in the 1990s, starting at New York City radio station WFAN in 1990, then picking up play-by-play for the (then New Jersey) Nets in 1994 on radio and the New York Jets in 1997. He was still doing mainly local work as he grew his national profile in the early 2000s, when Mescall worked with him as a producer.
The two have remained in contact and talk shop when they can. Both are deeply devoted to constantly improving their abilities as an announcer.
“He is someone that seeks out ways to improve and polish his skills, and he likes to talk about the art of play-by-play, and I’m the same way,” Eagle said. “I just know that he cares a lot. It matters to him. It comes across in the way in which he does his job, and it comes across in the way that he treats others.”
Into the Pool
Mescall’s journey could’ve involved any number of sports had it not been for his chance choice at Wagner. Water polo wasn’t a thing he encountered as a kid in New Jersey, short of having to police it during a summer job as a lifeguard at his local swim club. It probably wouldn’t have been on the menu of sports he was angling toward in his early broadcast experience.
But working with Wagner’s program exposed him to the broader sweep of college water polo. Wagner wasn’t a powerhouse on par with the California scions. But it more than held its own in the Northeastern hub of the sport. Players and coaches were exposed to enough of the California scene for Mescall to get an idea of the sport’s upper reaches. Knowing that he didn’t know much let him drop any façade that might have dissuaded him from asking questions.
“That Wagner experience was huge, because I would travel with the team, and so I got to ask the coach a lot of questions, and ask the players, how does this work? How does that work?,” he said.
Greg Mescall, right, and Brenda Villa at the 2025 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championships
He learned enough and met enough people that when USA Water Polo had an opening in 2007, he jumped at the chance. He had enough water polo knowledge by that point. He had broad media experience in a major market. He had been looking to move to California. It all lined up perfectly.
That was 18 and a half years ago. Or five Olympics ago, a time during which the U.S. has won six total medals (three women’s golds, plus men’s silver in 2008 and bronze in 2024 for the men) on the sport’s biggest stage. Mescall has soundtracked much of that winning, not to mention doing much of the communications legwork behind the scenes.
“He has shown a willingness to learn and a curiosity that is so important in that process from the start,” said Adam Krikorian, the head coach of those U.S. women’s Olympic champions and Mescall’s occasional broadcast partner. “I think that has gone a long way with our community, and I think that’s a big reason why he’s so respected. He’s such a professional at what he does, and he’s taken it very seriously, and you can see it in the way he not just broadcasts games but the conversations you have and the questions he asks.”
Mescall has become an authority in the sport, someone that Krikorian, a lifer, says he learns from often. In addition to the broadcast bona fides, there’s something to Mescall’s outsider perspective that has been useful to the sport’s growth.
It’s taken Mescall to the highest levels of water polo. He’s called more than 20 NCAA Championships, between men’s and women’s competition. He’s worked a slew of Team USA matches, getting to announce some of the game’s all-time great athletes. He’s worked World Cups and World Championships, basically everything short of the Olympics.
“He’s undoubtedly the voice of water polo throughout the world,” Krikorian said. “He’s our Jim Nantz, he’s our Al Michales, he’s our Bob Costas.”
Krikorian has seen his preparation up close. As a newcomer to the sport, Mescall doesn’t have old glory days or playing-career gravitas to fall back on. He has the notes he prepares and the professionalism he brings. Krikorian understands the value of someone like that being the one telling the story of his team.
“Greg is well connected across the sports industry,” he said. “When you have someone who is so well-connected and well-respected, that’s also associated with your program. Outside of our results, it delivers almost an instant credibility. I think as a small, niche sport as we are, and I even think back to my broadcasting stints, you’re constantly trying to explain the game of water polo to the rest of the country, to people who may not be familiar to it. So you’re using terms that you pull from other sports to be able to bring people in.
“In a general sense, that’s what Greg has done for our sport. He has not only used terminology but has built relationships and earned that respect to bring outsiders into our world of water polo that we all love.”
Both sides of Mescall’s career are in constant communication. The confidence he gained from learning and growing in water polo dispelled fears about jumping into new sports and encouraged him to court new challenges.
Being a generalist in the broadcast world means he knows what makes sports compelling to the average consumer. He can then sit on the other side of the table and craft content for USA Water Polo to home in on those aspects that pique viewers’ interest. Being someone who can talk about more than just water polo lends itself to welcoming newcomers. But being so steeped in water polo means he’s also able to find the granular details that will engage diehards.
“The dedication, the hard work, the sacrifice, all that stuff is apples to apples,” he said. “You just have to help people understand it. Sometimes, if you can use those things that they’re familiar with, hopefully, that paints a richer picture for the whole story.”
Time-wise, Mescall caught a break in his chosen area of expertise. The water polo calendar ramps up in summer. NCAAs peak in December for the men and May for the women. The heart of the club season spans the summer months, building toward major international competitions like Worlds. That’s a quiet time for the college calendar, leaving large swathes like the winter months for basketball or in the fall for volleyball.
Mescall is experienced at striking the balance between it all. His dream is to keep pushing in both directions.
“I think the dream is always to see how high you can fly with that,” he said. “For me, getting an opportunity to do stuff at the network level in the past, for ESPN or for NBC or more recently for Fox, certainly, to do more with groups at that level is a dream. What that looks like, I don’t exactly know. I think the industry has evolved constantly. But I certainly would love to have an opportunity to do more of the sports, especially ones that I’ve focused on more at the very highest level for a network.”