He was born in Minot, North Dakota, and moved with his family to El Segundo, California when he was 1 years old.
McIlroy swam and played waterpolo at El Segundo High School for the legendary coach Uro Saari.
Charles swam and played waterpolo at El Camino Jr Collage before transferring to California State University, Long Beach.
The team Charles played on, won all eight of their games in the 60+ division, earning them the gold medal in their age group.
This biographical article relating to a water polo figure from the United States is a stub.