A black water polo star has broken his silence after dropping bombshell sexual assault and racism claims against one of his white teammates.
Aidan Romain, now 18, sat down with Vanity Fair for an explosive interview, sharing shocking details of months-long harassment while he was at the elite Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles.
“It was just straight, blatant racism,” he told the magazine. The water polo prodigy recalled the first time he says he was sexually assaulted by Lucca Van der Woude, one of the people named in his lawsuit.
During one instance while he was eggbeating water, he felt someone grab his buttocks and insert a finger. The experience shocked him — even more so when he realized it was his teammate, Lucca.
“I was like, ‘Why did you do that? What are you doing?’” Aidan said. “He just laughed.”
Aidan also alleged multiple instances in which he was racially targeted and called slurs, including a short form of the N-word.
According to the lawsuit, a player named Kim and Van der Woude “constantly dehumanized” him and used the slur regularly.
“They weren’t trying to hide it,” Aidan said. “When the lights would turn off, they would say, ‘Where’s Aidan?’ or ‘Where’s arbitrary black person?’”
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He described the atmosphere as relentless and overtly racist. “It was just straight, blatant racism,” he said.
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The complaint also alleges Kim and Van der Woude “whipped” Aidan in the weight room with a sports-equipment-grade jump rope in what the suit describes as “a re-enactment of slavery,” while saying, “Get back to work!”
Another incident allegedly occurred during a team trip to Spain with the Los Angeles Premier Water Polo Club, where players trained at Club Natació Barcelona.
According to the lawsuit, a teammate began chanting the N-word at another black player on the team bus.
When that player told him to stop, another teammate allegedly warned Aidan and the other player to keep quiet, telling them nobody would believe “two black players” over the rest of the group.
All of this has taken a toll on Aidan’s family.
“I was in shock that Aidan could have told people at the school and no one did anything,” Alex Romain, Aidan’s dad, said.
“No one said anything. No one told us.” He wiped his eyes. “We haven’t really slept since October 2023.”