The star water polo player accused of racially harassing a Black teammate appears to be keeping a low profile.
In late February, Aidan Romain filed a lawsuit against Lucca van der Woude, a former Harvard-Westlake School student considered a future Olympic prospect.
Romain accused van der Woude, 18, of subjecting him to years of racist behavior when they were both members of the water polo team at the elite Los Angeles high school.
Highlights
- Lucca van der Woude was nowhere to be seen at his home amid disturbing accusations by former teammate Aidan Romain.
- Romain accused school staff, water polo coach Jack Grover, and his former teammate of allowing a “culture of harassment.”
- Romain and his family claim that school officials ignored or minimized reports of harassment to protect van der Woude.
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The accuser, who moved to Spain after the incident, alleged van der Woude s*xually a*saulted him and repeatedly used racist slurs when they were minors.
According to The Post, the defendant was nowhere to be found at his home when the outlet visited his parents’ Costa Mesa home.
Van der Woude’s mother, Nilda, who allegedly served as the water polo team’s logistics coordinator, said her son wasn’t home but was in the area and had not left for spring break. When asked about the case, Nilda reportedly told The Post, “Speak with our attorney.”
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Van der Woude’s father is Thomas “Basti” van der Woude, a Hollywood assistant director who has worked in Castaway, Fast & Furious 5, Thor: The Dark World, as well as in the series Fear the Walking Dead.
The teenager was arrested on campus in February 2024 and admitted to digital penetration of a minor in juvenile court as part of a plea deal. A judge later ordered him and his parents to pay more than $49,000 in restitution to partially cover the victim’s legal costs.
Image credits: Getty/Frederick M. Brown
Van der Woude's attorney, Michael Artan, told Eyewitness News last March that Romain’s allegations against his former teammate will be addressed in court and that he has no intention to “litigate this matter in the media.”
Keith Bremer, another attorney for van der Woude, told The Guardian that he “denies each and every allegation made against him” and that the defendant “conducted himself with integrity throughout his academic and athletic career.”
Romain claims van der Woude frequently stuck his finger in his bottom during practices at their high school.
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“Time and time again, on Harvard-Westlake’s campus — in its pool and elsewhere — Lucca van der Woude approached Plaintiff from behind to ambush and digitally penetrate him,” the lawsuit reads.
Van der Woude and another white teammate allegedly whipped Romain with exercise bands while telling him to “get back to work,” seemingly re-enacting sl*very.
This discriminatory behavior reportedly lasted for more than two years, beginning when Romain joined the varsity team at age 14 in 2022 and ending in 2024, when van der Woude was arrested.
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According to the lawsuit, van der Woude and another teammate, Connor Kim, who is not a defendant in the case, “constantly dehumanized” Romain and called him the N-word.
“Connor Kim ridiculed [Aidan] over the fact that his ancestors had been enslaved and subsequently forced to pick crops,” the lawsuit states.
Lillian Chu, Kim’s attorney, said the statements made in the lawsuit about her client are false.
Image credits: Aidan Romain
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Romain said his white teammates “weren’t trying to hide” their racist behavior. “When the lights would turn off, they would say, ‘Where’s Aidan?’ or ‘Where’s arbitrary Black person?’”
The athlete, who is currently residing in Barcelona with his mother, accused school authorities and his water polo coach, Jack Grover, of failing to intervene after he and his parents reported the harassment multiple times.
He also claimed van der Woude openly joked about his alleged illegal behavior in front of Harvard-Westlake School staff.
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According to the 54-page complaint, van der Woude once told school staff that he had acquired conjunctivitis “from digitally penetrating his teammates before rubbing his eyes.”
The institution, a predominantly white high school located in Studio City, has denied wrongdoing, insisting that it treated reports of misconduct seriously and complied with mandatory reporting obligations.
In a statement, a Harvard-Westlake spokesperson said the school “unequivocally disputes many of these allegations that mischaracterize facts and the school's actions.”
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Meanwhile, Romain’s lawsuit states that the harassment was “part of a years-long culture in which violence and humiliation were normalized and facilitated through the school's coaching staff and administration."
Different celebrities, including actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Jake Gyllenhaal, have attended the school, which currently has a tuition of $54,900 a year.
Harvard-Westlake is also among the top five private schools in the Los Angeles area, according to Niche, a website that ranks K-12 schools.
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"It happened in nearly every training; it would happen many times daily, sometimes outside of the pool. So, it was certainly a difficult experience,” the teen told ABC News.
Romain hopes to return to the United States and play water polo for an Ivy League university.
"Part of the reason why I'm speaking up and standing up for myself is so that others don't have to be in these kinds of situations," he said. "I hope that people who are experiencing these kind of things know that they're not alone."
