VARNA, Bulgaria — Following an All-Big West Freshman honor in 2025, UC Davis men's water polo rising sophomore Oriol Viñas has been selected to represent his home country of Spain at the 2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championships from Aug. 10-16.

Viñas joins the team after a successful first season with the Aggies, appearing in 27 games while finishing third on the squad with 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists). Some of his biggest games included a two goal, four assist performance in the Big West Finals against Long Beach State and a goal in the NCAA Tournament against Stanford.

This competition won't be the first time Viñas has played for Spain, playing in the European Aquatics Champions League.

The 16 team tournament will be broken up into four divisions, with the top two teams in each division moving on to the knockout stage.

Spain is already off to a hot start in the tournament, picking up their first win against Serbia 16-14 yesterday. The team will move on and play Montenegro and Germany to wrap up Group B play over the coming days.

ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS: 

UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27. 

For more information, visit https://ucdavisaggies.com/.