Ludovica Palazzo '26 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ludovica Palazzo, I’m from Milan, Italy and I’m both a student of the St. Louis School of Milan and a water polo player for Milan’s top water polo women's club, Canottieri MIlano.   

I'm a left-handed playmaker in a driver position. For the 2024-2025 season I’m a key player and starter for both the u18 team and senior series B team. Since starting water polo a few years ago, I have completely fallen in love with this sport. Training daily, sharing victories and defeats with my teammates, sacrificing for a common goal as a family and project. As an athlete, I have a competitive spirit and a positive attitude when facing adversities and during all matches. My aim for the year is to be selected for the national Italian team and participate at the gatherings.

I am intending to attend a top US university with a female water polo team, so that I can combine my academic ambitions with my sporting ones. I already attended the Princeton and Harvard water polo camps in summer 2024, training for the first time with other US women players of my age: having the opportunity to compare myself with multiple athletes.   

This winter, at Christmas I trained in Santa Barbara, California at San Marcos high school with their team: taking advantage of further opportunities to explore the American water polo world. 

At school , I started the IB programme on a positive trajectory with multiple 7s and a high commitment from my side. The high levels I chose are Maths AA, Economics and French B. I wanted to connect them to my interest in Economics and to pursue it in college. I'm currently writing my extended essay in economics due to my interest in the subject and desire to study it in college. I also initiated an economics blog, which analyses the economics of several real world news connecting them with the IB programme in order to help students around the world to stay kept up with the news and find a direct real world connection with their courses. Here is the link to my blog: ibeconomicsnews.wordpress.com   

In the past season (2023-2024) I was the U16 team’s captain and team top scorer with 30 goals out of 97 total goals. I scored in all games played, with multiple-goal outings and the average goals per game of 4.0. Our team has qualified for the national semi-finals (June 7-8, 2024). In the U18 team, I scored 30 goals out of 225 total goals with the average goals per game of 2.5. This team too has qualified for the national semi-finals (June 10-11, 2024). I have also been one of the top water polo athletes selected to represent the Lombardy region in the Italian Regions Tournament. This is an Italian tournament that the “Italian Aquatics federation” organizes for U15 athletes with all the best players from Italy. 

For my extra curricular activities out of school, I do free tutoring at Italian public high schools’ students for their maths courses. Additionally, I undertake at least 4 hours of service each month with the organization “La Mano del Bambino” who aims at helping children with disabilities (specifically to their hands) to feel more included in our society by organizing charity fundraisers, fun activities and mini markets.

I believe that I am a perfect candidate for a water polo team due to my powerful charisma and unlimited determination. I have persistently been a top scorer in all teams where I played in, realising at least 2 goals per game in which I participated. I’m a versatile member who thrives in both defence and offence roles, meaning I'm a flexible asset who can understand fastly and put in action schemes for both the situations. Thirdly, I’m also extremely consistent, registering an absence rate of 0% in the previous season despite all my other engagements and studies. I have also maintained a peak physical condition that enabled me to perform at my best in high-pressure situations preventing injuries and distractions. 

Having been a team captain and key player, I fostered a culture of accountability and mutual support leading us to reach the national semifinal tournament in all the youth categories. Working on the unity of my team, I excel at reading the game and setting up my teammates for success: in order to build a strong, cohesive team dynamic. I also strongly believe in my commitment to excellence since I am always the first to practice and the last to leave and I always ensure both my skills and my teammates' skills are exponentially increasing. 

About my resilience and work ethics, I’m able to balance the IB programme and hard courses such as Math AA HL and French B HL with daily water polo practices. This has taught me time management and toughness that will surely be a skill I will readapt in my future life at college and later. Moreover, it aids my mental toughness too in remaining active and strong, for instance, last season in a tied championship game I scored the winning goal in overtime: demonstrating my ability to stay composed in high-stakes situations. 

I believe that strong communication is the foundation of a successful team, and I strive to model that in every game, I am sure to bring my positive energy, strong passion, and commitment, and to be an added value for your team and community. Water polo is more than just a sport for me, it’s a way of life that has shaped my character and aspirations, helping me to develop as a complete person. I support that I have entered a pool for the first time as an inexperienced and incomplete person, and that eventually when I will exit the pool for the last time in my life –ending my career– I will be conscious of having become the complete person this path will sculpt.