USA Olympic Water Polo? You Betcha!

Living so close to the Olympic Training Center is definitely a cool thing. Having friends who work there and let you know when events are happening is a bonus. Sherry VonRiesen, US Olympic Athlete Liaison, put us on her “What’s Happening” mailing list to let us know when there might be something we wanted to see.  (Will save Sherry for a later topic, she’s an incredible story!)

But in October Sherry let us know that the Women’s National (Olympic Team to be)Water Polo team was doing some high altitude training and fine tuning at the OTC prior to the 2011 Pan American Games. The Dutch team was also there training and they scheduled a game against each other. So while not really an official Trials, it was an opportunity to watch two Pre-Olympic teams competing.

Again, I wasn’t the most knowledgeable spectator. I Googled Water Polo in the car on the way down and was able to learn a fair amount about the basics and some of the rules. But sitting amongst the 15 spectators who were there I’m thinking I knew about as much as most of them did!

It was a very fun sport to watch in person. Way more fun than on TV. We were able to see all the players and not just the ones involved in the play. And there was much interesting “goings on” away from the ball! Water Polo women are tough and aggressive and not adverse to casually holding the opposition under the water. Looked like fun!

I must say I gained a new respect and appreciation for the sport. While it’s a fun game that kids like to play in PE class, this was a very physically demanding and skillful sport. Many people don’t realize the athletes aren’t allowed to touch the bottom of the pool. So it’s swimming and treading water for the entire game.

I must confess I don’t remember the score but the United States won. The athletes very graciously came over and thanked the “crowd” for coming and asked if we understood what we watched. While we couldn’t honestly say yes, we did all understand that we’d just seen a very special group of talented and committed young women play a sport purely for the love of that sport.

A sport that will not garner them any fame or fortune. While the USA went on to win gold at the Pan American Games and is expected to do well in London (they’re ranked in the top 6) the athletes will not become household names like Nastia Liukin and Michael Phelps. They will not be signing multi-million dollar endorsement contracts.

All I can say is that’s what the Olympic Spirit  is all about. It’s why we get goosebumps when we watch the Olympics. And you can bet I’ll be watching Water Polo in July/August and cheering for Team USA.

In Celebration of Sport!