1
00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,399
Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're celebrating

2
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,360
Speaker 1: Day one of the Paris Olympics by sending a hot

3
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:08,840
Speaker 1: bonus episode your way.

4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:09,840
Speaker 2: That's right.

5
00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,360
Speaker 1: While we normally release episodes Monday through Friday, y'all know

6
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,799
Speaker 1: the saying. On the sixth day, the bonus episode was

7
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 1: gifted to celebrate the start of the Olympic water polo tournament.

8
00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,560
Speaker 1: I caught up with the best player in the world,

9
00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,680
Speaker 1: Maggie Stephans, not only an amazing athlete, but an amazing person,

10
00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 1: and I loved this conversation so much. In Paris, Maggie

11
00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,760
Speaker 1: has the chance to become the first water polo player

12
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,720
Speaker 1: of any gender to win four Olympic gold medals. Here's

13
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,680
Speaker 1: our conversation. Enjoy joining us now. She's the captain of

14
00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,480
Speaker 1: the US women's water polo team, widely considered the best

15
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 1: water polo player on the planet, and as such, I

16
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 1: think she deserves a little time here. We got quite

17
00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,200
Speaker 1: the resume to read, so settle in. In college, she

18
00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,840
Speaker 1: led her Stanford team to NCAA championships in twenty fourteen, fifteen,

19
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,120
Speaker 1: and seventeen, and a second place finish.

20
00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:03,800
Speaker 2: In twenty thirteen.

21
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,360
Speaker 1: In the first match of the Summer Olympics in twenty twelve,

22
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,600
Speaker 1: she scored seven goals to tie the Olympic single game record.

23
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,200
Speaker 1: Went on to score twenty one total goals in the Olympics,

24
00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,880
Speaker 1: set a new Olympic record for most goals scored in

25
00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,520
Speaker 1: a women's water polo tournament, and.

26
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:18,679
Speaker 2: The US one gold.

27
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,200
Speaker 1: That gold was the first Olympic gold medal men's or

28
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,199
Speaker 1: women's won by the US in waterpolo at Olympic Games

29
00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,600
Speaker 1: since the sports debut. Then twenty sixteen Olympics top goal

30
00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,240
Speaker 1: scorer again seventeen goals as the US wins gold.

31
00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,040
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty, she sets.

32
00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:34,840
Speaker 1: A new Olympic record for most goals scored by an

33
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,400
Speaker 1: individual player in women's waterpolo at the Olympics. She's got

34
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,240
Speaker 1: a tradition of getting a new bill to bear before

35
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,040
Speaker 1: every Olympics, and we once crashed a wedding together. It's

36
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:48,120
Speaker 1: Maggie Stevens. What's up, Maggie, Hey, Sarah, great intro, Thank you.

37
00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:49,120
Speaker 3: I give mil mob.

38
00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:51,880
Speaker 1: I still think about us crashing the wedding and being

39
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 1: very confident that the people there would be interested in

40
00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,919
Speaker 1: you and your gold medal showing up at their wedding.

41
00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,480
Speaker 3: It's funny because now that I've had a wedding, I'm like,

42
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:02,080
Speaker 3: who ever let us in?

43
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,040
Speaker 2: Neither of us were married at the time. We didn't know.

44
00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:05,920
Speaker 2: We didn't know.

45
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,519
Speaker 3: You know, that's ourry excuse. But they loved it. I

46
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 3: really did love us coming in and having a little

47
00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:12,919
Speaker 3: dance party.

48
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,520
Speaker 1: They really did love it, which I'm grateful for because

49
00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,160
Speaker 1: when I think back, I'm like, that was a little awkward.

50
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,240
Speaker 1: We just invited ourselves to their wedding and we were

51
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:21,240
Speaker 1: not dress appropriately.

52
00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:22,200
Speaker 2: But they did teach us.

53
00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,000
Speaker 1: It was an Indian wedding, so they were teaching us

54
00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,519
Speaker 1: dances and they were wearing your metals. So I chalk

55
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,680
Speaker 1: it up to a win for them, regardless of whether

56
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,079
Speaker 1: we would have wanted them at our wedding.

57
00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,800
Speaker 3: You know, we can have memories that we tell ourselves

58
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,120
Speaker 3: where we're perfect to go.

59
00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:38,160
Speaker 2: So there you go.

60
00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:39,320
Speaker 3: It was a win win.

61
00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:40,519
Speaker 2: It's a win win.

62
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,320
Speaker 1: We have so much to get to and not much

63
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,640
Speaker 1: time because you're about to leave for Paris. I'm so

64
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,040
Speaker 1: pumped to watch you and I want you on in

65
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,920
Speaker 1: part because I don't know that the average American is

66
00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,959
Speaker 1: super familiar with water polo and super familiar with your

67
00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,680
Speaker 1: greatness and the greatness of your team. Now we have

68
00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:57,639
Speaker 1: a certain hype man that's helping with that. We'll get

69
00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 1: to him later, but I want to start with just

70
00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,200
Speaker 1: the basics. It's like if you're trying to tell a

71
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,600
Speaker 1: friend or someone that you just made an acquaintance with, like.

72
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,040
Speaker 2: Hey, you should really watch water polo. What are you

73
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:07,600
Speaker 2: telling them?

74
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 1: What's like the couple things that will make it more

75
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:11,480
Speaker 1: fun to watch for them and that they need to know.

76
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I think the first thing is I really

77
00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,440
Speaker 3: want to change the rhetoric with water polo. I feel

78
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,919
Speaker 3: like so often I say water polo and the first

79
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,480
Speaker 3: question I get asked phil is oh, so do you

80
00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,480
Speaker 3: stand on the bottom? And I really want to change that.

81
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,400
Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't know how long it's gonna take,

82
00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,720
Speaker 3: but the first thing I want to just get out

83
00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,800
Speaker 3: there and hopefully this question no longer gets asked. But

84
00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,280
Speaker 3: we never touch the bottom of the pool. We are

85
00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,840
Speaker 3: always doing egg beater or you can call it treading water,

86
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,440
Speaker 3: so we're never really at rest. And when you see

87
00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,520
Speaker 3: photos of water pool players shooting the ball like a

88
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,280
Speaker 3: baseball and we're up out of the water, it is

89
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,680
Speaker 3: our own strength, our own force, our own power, not

90
00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:55,960
Speaker 3: the bottom of the pool.

91
00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,280
Speaker 1: So because that's the worst one on the bottom of

92
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,680
Speaker 1: the pool, right, it's the horses fed the polo that's

93
00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:00,880
Speaker 1: on the.

94
00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 3: Bottom of Yes, support that as well. So that's I

95
00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,720
Speaker 3: think my first that's like my goal. I've realized if

96
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,960
Speaker 3: we can just get even somebody who's never heard of

97
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,480
Speaker 3: the sport, never watched it, but you know, it'd be

98
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,560
Speaker 3: like asking a basketball player like, oh, so do you fly?

99
00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:21,880
Speaker 2: It's like no, Or do you use a ladder to dunk? Yeah?

100
00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 3: Yeah? Do you yeah? Yeah, exactly.

101
00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,120
Speaker 1: Well, that's one of the things I remember about first

102
00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:28,720
Speaker 1: meeting you and you talking.

103
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:29,960
Speaker 2: To us at an espnW summit.

104
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,200
Speaker 1: There were these pictures of Lebron James coming out of

105
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,440
Speaker 1: the water shooting for a photo shoot, and then there

106
00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,720
Speaker 1: were the outtakes of you and several of your teammates

107
00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,240
Speaker 1: underwater holding him up because you were explaining just how

108
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,760
Speaker 1: hard it is, even for great athletes to be out

109
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,960
Speaker 1: of the water in that position and shooting, and it

110
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,120
Speaker 1: really like made clear to me just how physically tough

111
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,560
Speaker 1: it is to do what you're doing. It's also a

112
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,520
Speaker 1: very physical sport, so if people are just watching for

113
00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:57,120
Speaker 1: the first time.

114
00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,400
Speaker 2: What do they need to know about going on under

115
00:04:59,440 --> 00:04:59,839
Speaker 2: the water?

116
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's definitely two games going on. There's a

117
00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,920
Speaker 3: game that you can kind of see above water, which

118
00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:12,800
Speaker 3: I relate a lot to basketball, soccer, and hockey. It's

119
00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,479
Speaker 3: similar to basketball in the sense that you have all

120
00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,200
Speaker 3: players playing defense and offense. Everybody is kind of ebb

121
00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,320
Speaker 3: and flow, counter attacking, counter defense, and you're kind of

122
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,240
Speaker 3: playing around a center position, the kind of the bigger

123
00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,080
Speaker 3: player in the middle, and you're trying to get the

124
00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,479
Speaker 3: ball to them. And then you have your Steph Curries,

125
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,040
Speaker 3: you have your Lebron James, you have your Caitlin Clark's,

126
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:38,000
Speaker 3: like you have the outside shooters, the drivers, and soccer

127
00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,719
Speaker 3: with the sense you have a goalie and you have

128
00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,880
Speaker 3: a big net. But I think what is tough to

129
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,400
Speaker 3: understand and see, like you're hinting at, is the underwater game.

130
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,720
Speaker 3: And that's where you get kind of the wrestling, the judo,

131
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,840
Speaker 3: the physicality of hockey. And again you're not standing around

132
00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,360
Speaker 3: the bottom of the pool. You know, I love calling

133
00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,440
Speaker 3: it your own power, your own force. You're creating, you know,

134
00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 3: your own energy. And while you're doing that, you have

135
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,920
Speaker 3: people you know, trying to get you off balance, maybe

136
00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:09,400
Speaker 3: giving you a little pick. A lot of times people

137
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,840
Speaker 3: are holding your suit, you know, kind of bear hugging

138
00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,400
Speaker 3: you underwater, and you have to try to stay cool,

139
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,839
Speaker 3: calm and collected above water and still try to achieve

140
00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,640
Speaker 3: what needs to get done while underwater. There's this whole

141
00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:27,680
Speaker 3: other gaal happening, yeah, which I love. I love it.

142
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,000
Speaker 3: It's not for everybody, but I think that's what makes

143
00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:31,320
Speaker 3: it so exciting.

144
00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,480
Speaker 1: I know, you've broken your nose, that's above water, underwater,

145
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,880
Speaker 1: what's the wildest thing that maybe an opponent has done

146
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:37,839
Speaker 1: or that you've had happen.

147
00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:39,040
Speaker 2: Yeah.

148
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,799
Speaker 3: So, unfortunately, I broke my nose in the second game

149
00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 3: of Tokyo in the Olympics. That made the rest of

150
00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,120
Speaker 3: the Olympics definitely quite painful, but it kind of just

151
00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,680
Speaker 3: felt like, hey, bring it on, you know, we're here.

152
00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,320
Speaker 3: But that was, to be honest, that was an accident.

153
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,359
Speaker 3: I've that was the first time I've broken my nose,

154
00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,159
Speaker 3: and I had actually done an interview right for the Olympic, so, hey, like,

155
00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,000
Speaker 3: waterflow is pretty physical. I was like, honestly, most of

156
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 3: my injuries are from overuse and and you know, over

157
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,560
Speaker 3: intensity and then I totally myself, so never doing that again.

158
00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 3: But yeah, that one just it's definitely very physical and

159
00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,800
Speaker 3: you're you know, you're putting your face right into people's

160
00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,640
Speaker 3: elbows and hands and whatever. So that happened versus China,

161
00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,000
Speaker 3: which was unfortunate, but got back in, kept playing and

162
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,480
Speaker 3: most of my injuries. I got surgery a couple of

163
00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,120
Speaker 3: years ago on my shoulder. And you know, you can

164
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,640
Speaker 3: relate to a lot to baseball, just like you can

165
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,280
Speaker 3: imagine pictures like you're just throwing the ball so much

166
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,640
Speaker 3: and you're swimming, so think of the injuries that swimmers

167
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,600
Speaker 3: have on their shoulders and mix that with baseball players

168
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,880
Speaker 3: and that's what water polow players have because you're doing

169
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,760
Speaker 3: both right. Yeah, so that's kind of where the you know,

170
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 3: you need to just be sharp. That's where we do

171
00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,520
Speaker 3: like a lot of weightlifting and you know a lot

172
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,960
Speaker 3: of strength training to be ready for that and to

173
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,400
Speaker 3: be fit enough to handle the load and intensity.

174
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,560
Speaker 1: We got to pay some bills, but more with Maggie

175
00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:16,400
Speaker 1: Stephens after the break. Maggie, I'm loving this flavor flav

176
00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:18,480
Speaker 1: Era of the water polo team.

177
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:21,560
Speaker 3: You and flav would need to be friends.

178
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,680
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, We've.

179
00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,760
Speaker 3: Been to both of you and it just makes social.

180
00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 2: It does make sense. That's a weird makes a flavor

181
00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:29,920
Speaker 2: flav makes sense.

182
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,079
Speaker 1: He recently signed a five year deal to be the

183
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,840
Speaker 1: official hype man of US water polo. It has been

184
00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,679
Speaker 1: incredibly fun watching him hype you guys up, interacting with

185
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,079
Speaker 1: the team, getting in the pool. Take us to how

186
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,200
Speaker 1: this started, because it really started with you.

187
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I honestly have you to think for

188
00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:49,839
Speaker 3: a lot of this and a lot of the women

189
00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,960
Speaker 3: that I've kind of met at whether it's like espnW

190
00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,640
Speaker 3: events or Women's Sports Foundation events, but I feel like

191
00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:01,000
Speaker 3: I always leave those weekends or even if it's just

192
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 3: like a few hours, just feeling really empowered to actually

193
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,840
Speaker 3: make a difference. And whether that's with my voice or

194
00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,120
Speaker 3: with my actions or you know, just a behind the

195
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,280
Speaker 3: scenes and it's something that I've been you know, doing

196
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,120
Speaker 3: for you know, I would say ever since kind of

197
00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,560
Speaker 3: the twenty sixteen Quad twenty twelve, I was like just

198
00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:24,880
Speaker 3: Trent's fad and with Flaves, it kind of just happened

199
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,000
Speaker 3: with deciding, Hey, like we're heading into Paris, this could

200
00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,360
Speaker 3: be my last Olympics. I have no idea but we're

201
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,760
Speaker 3: going to Paris, which is where the first Olympics for

202
00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,480
Speaker 3: women originated, and now we have fifty percent of women

203
00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:45,800
Speaker 3: competing in the games. Like how amazing is that development

204
00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,120
Speaker 3: and growth and at the same time of how exciting

205
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,120
Speaker 3: that is. I looked around at my teammates while we

206
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,640
Speaker 3: were under the tower. I was like, we're still just

207
00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,120
Speaker 3: kind of water polo, you know, like still people are

208
00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,520
Speaker 3: asking are you standing on the bottom of the or

209
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,720
Speaker 3: are we on horses? Or they don't know Maddie Meselman's story,

210
00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,760
Speaker 3: they don't know Ashley Johnson, they don't know Rachel Fatal,

211
00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,520
Speaker 3: they don't know these girls that to me, I'm like,

212
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,520
Speaker 3: you know, to me, they're my cover girls, right like

213
00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:19,400
Speaker 3: they're the people I I feel like could be leading

214
00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,520
Speaker 3: all of these different commercials or whatever. It is just

215
00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,480
Speaker 3: not because of just the athletes and accolades that they've had,

216
00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,760
Speaker 3: but the women that they are, the role models, they

217
00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,680
Speaker 3: are the you know what they do outside of the pool,

218
00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,280
Speaker 3: and you know, not as many people know. But it's

219
00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,320
Speaker 3: not like people join the Olympic team, especially or like

220
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,680
Speaker 3: water polo to you know, be rich and famous or

221
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,880
Speaker 3: get money or be on TV like you're doing it

222
00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:47,880
Speaker 3: for the love of the sport, you're doing it for

223
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:49,680
Speaker 3: the love of each other, You're doing it for the

224
00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,600
Speaker 3: love of your country and your family, and you kind

225
00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,440
Speaker 3: of have this head down, grinded out mentality as water

226
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,760
Speaker 3: polo players with that like underwater game. And so I

227
00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 3: just like put on Instagram, hey, like empowering people to

228
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,480
Speaker 3: try a different sport this Olympics, right, like watch maybe

229
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,840
Speaker 3: one of the more niche sports that isn't always you

230
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 3: don't see every year like during the Olympics, NBC do

231
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,960
Speaker 3: is such an amazing job of highlighting all these different

232
00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,079
Speaker 3: sports and it's something I'm so grateful for. But then

233
00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,199
Speaker 3: it's like, you know, everybody kind of disappears in those

234
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,760
Speaker 3: three years in between. So how do we keep that

235
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,199
Speaker 3: going during those three years in between? And whether it's

236
00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,680
Speaker 3: water polo or rugby or you know, fencing something that

237
00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,800
Speaker 3: maybe you didn't learn about, just try to learn it

238
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,560
Speaker 3: and watch it this Olympics, right and Flave, you know,

239
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,560
Speaker 3: responded to it, and I was kind of just asking

240
00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,080
Speaker 3: for support as well. A lot of us have you know,

241
00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,360
Speaker 3: different jobs to help financially support ourselves to try to

242
00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:56,200
Speaker 3: achieve this dream, and Flavor Flave responded and kind of

243
00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:57,480
Speaker 3: just steamrolled from.

244
00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:57,760
Speaker 2: There and.

245
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,520
Speaker 3: It has really become a part of our team in

246
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,480
Speaker 3: that way and has been a great hype man. I

247
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,480
Speaker 3: think one thing he's done really well is any light

248
00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,319
Speaker 3: that has been shined, he's shined it back on us,

249
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,960
Speaker 3: and I think that's really commendable. And I've met him

250
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,720
Speaker 3: a ton of different time, super genuine, really authentic, and

251
00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,120
Speaker 3: I really love he's Like he got in with us,

252
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:27,600
Speaker 3: he had the courage in, he was awesome. He like

253
00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 3: I said, we've had people get in and it's a struggle,

254
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,800
Speaker 3: you know. And he jumped right in pigh fived all

255
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,520
Speaker 3: of us. Then literally was like Maggie passing me the

256
00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,800
Speaker 3: ball and I was like, oh my god, okay, and

257
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,640
Speaker 3: passed him the ball and he just wanted to start

258
00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,360
Speaker 3: shooting against Sashley Johnson, who for those who don't know

259
00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:50,720
Speaker 3: the rest, in my mind, that's goalkeeper ever and he

260
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:52,720
Speaker 3: just went right for it. I feel like that's his attitude.

261
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,480
Speaker 3: He was smiling the whole time, and his son was there,

262
00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,600
Speaker 3: which was really cute, and I think that's just who

263
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,040
Speaker 3: he is. He's he's a go getter. He does everything

264
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,000
Speaker 3: kind of one hund and we talked a lot, you know.

265
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:07,880
Speaker 3: I was talking to him about kind of the makeup

266
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,120
Speaker 3: of water polo and how much it needs to grow

267
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,679
Speaker 3: and it needs to grow, and also different communities and

268
00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:17,040
Speaker 3: in different backgrounds with just the accessibility to pools and

269
00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:22,240
Speaker 3: water and just trying to create this new avenue for

270
00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,280
Speaker 3: people to see the sport. And if you see it right,

271
00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,120
Speaker 3: you believe you could possibly do that. And there's tons

272
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,600
Speaker 3: of people who maybe we're following flave for Public Enemy

273
00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,280
Speaker 3: or whatever it is, and now we're like, WHOA, what's

274
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,800
Speaker 3: this water polo thing? And maybe now their kids are like,

275
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,680
Speaker 3: what's that water flags about in the water? Maybe I

276
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,480
Speaker 3: can too, right, so cool and just creating that that

277
00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,840
Speaker 3: I that doorway, that window to me that and of itself.

278
00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,040
Speaker 3: He could do nothing else, and that has been great

279
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:52,800
Speaker 3: for our sport.

280
00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,120
Speaker 1: It's been so fun to watch and I can't wait

281
00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,439
Speaker 1: to watch that relationship continue to develop at the Olympics.

282
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,079
Speaker 1: I know you have run because you have to train

283
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,520
Speaker 1: to win another gold medal, so quick. Last question, one

284
00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,920
Speaker 1: of the experiences you also had in this incredible lead

285
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,959
Speaker 1: up where your team thankfully is getting some more love

286
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,439
Speaker 1: and attention is Taylor Swift hook the whole team open

287
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,240
Speaker 1: tickets to a show VIP style.

288
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:16,880
Speaker 2: I need I need to highlight from that.

289
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,640
Speaker 3: Okay, So we went to Paris to we've done this

290
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,960
Speaker 3: every quad ever since I joined the team in two

291
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,760
Speaker 3: thousand and nine thy ten where we go to the

292
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,320
Speaker 3: host city before the tournament for a test game. And

293
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,960
Speaker 3: it's a way for us to you know, not only

294
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,000
Speaker 3: get a test game in the venue, but also you

295
00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,640
Speaker 3: kind of get all the distractions out of the way, right,

296
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,760
Speaker 3: Like when you're in Paris in the Olympic village, you

297
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,680
Speaker 3: don't want to be hearing from your family how they're

298
00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,680
Speaker 3: going down the set and they're in NiFe and tower

299
00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,640
Speaker 3: and they're eating these amazing food. We've done that. You know,

300
00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,680
Speaker 3: it's like you're in focus mode. The knife is sharpened

301
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,520
Speaker 3: and you want to just chop right. And Paris we

302
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,320
Speaker 3: went before to kind of sharpen the knife right, get

303
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,920
Speaker 3: the distraction out. And Taylor Swift was performing in the

304
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:10,960
Speaker 3: Olympic venue, so where is held and where the quarterfinals,

305
00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,440
Speaker 3: semi finals and finals of Waterfolow will be held in

306
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,840
Speaker 3: Law Defense Arena, which is where she was performing, and

307
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,600
Speaker 3: so kind of jokingly we were like, oh, the only

308
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,680
Speaker 3: way we could visualize, right, which is such an important

309
00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:28,040
Speaker 3: part pre Olympics, like visualizing and going to the venue

310
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,840
Speaker 3: and kind of seeing what it could be like would

311
00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:32,960
Speaker 3: be to go to a Taylor Swift concert, right Like,

312
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,920
Speaker 3: we're kind of joking about it, but we don't have

313
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,640
Speaker 3: time for that. We don't have the money for that, obviously.

314
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,840
Speaker 4: And our team leader, Ali Beck or our manager, she's

315
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,960
Speaker 4: been amazing and she actually just started reaching out without

316
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 4: us knowing, to Taylor Swift's PR, Like she just was.

317
00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 3: Cold calling, cold emailing, just putting it out there and

318
00:15:57,920 --> 00:15:59,960
Speaker 3: she got the job done. She was able to get

319
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,200
Speaker 3: in touch with their PR and kind of just said, hey,

320
00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,760
Speaker 3: like women's waterfolow is here the USA team They're going

321
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:12,640
Speaker 3: to be hopefully competing in this arena for the Olympics

322
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,800
Speaker 3: or the quarterfinals, and hopefully semi files a blate vigls like,

323
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:18,760
Speaker 3: is there any way we could come to one of

324
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,040
Speaker 3: your shows? And it kind of took a while, but

325
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,880
Speaker 3: they ended up responding. And I do believe Flave also,

326
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,680
Speaker 3: who apparently is like a king Swift ye had also

327
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:30,920
Speaker 3: I think he put a message in there which I'm

328
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,160
Speaker 3: sure helped, right like Loes. Yeah, And so we ended

329
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:40,040
Speaker 3: up getting surprised one day and canceled practice that night.

330
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:41,960
Speaker 3: It was the night before we left, so you know,

331
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,200
Speaker 3: we'd kind of already done our test game and everything,

332
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,320
Speaker 3: and we all got so excited. We went to Taylor Swift.

333
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,640
Speaker 3: We made friendship brieflet and I I'd nerve Ben to

334
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,120
Speaker 3: the Swift concert. I didn't know this, there was this

335
00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,960
Speaker 3: whole thing, but it was really fun. It was great

336
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,840
Speaker 3: team bonding and we got led back stage. I got

337
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,800
Speaker 3: to see Paramore like doing their jumping jacks.

338
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:03,880
Speaker 2: I was like, oh wow.

339
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,560
Speaker 3: And then we got led to this like awesome little

340
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,800
Speaker 3: VIP area where for us it was really special because

341
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,720
Speaker 3: we got to beat just with our team, and it

342
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,600
Speaker 3: was a really special moment because not only were we

343
00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,040
Speaker 3: able to see the arena and visualize and and have that,

344
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,960
Speaker 3: but we got to see Taylor Swift live. But I

345
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,639
Speaker 3: think she embodied kind of who we want to be,

346
00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,439
Speaker 3: right Like she was playing in front of thousands and

347
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,639
Speaker 3: thousands of fans and just being this strong, badass woman

348
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 3: who thrived under that pressure and was having fun, and

349
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,240
Speaker 3: that's kind of who we want to become. That moment,

350
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 3: so tears going on. Yeah, people were more into it,

351
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,320
Speaker 3: you know, a lot of singing and dancing, and yeah,

352
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,520
Speaker 3: we left Paris on a high note, and I hope

353
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,760
Speaker 3: that we can take that high note and you know,

354
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,000
Speaker 3: channel it for these next few weeks.

355
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,080
Speaker 1: Flavor Flavor. Putting Taylor Swift in touch with the US

356
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,880
Speaker 1: women's water pole team in Paris is a mad lib

357
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:03,840
Speaker 1: and I'm obsessed.

358
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,560
Speaker 2: This is so good, Maggie. Thank you so much for

359
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:08,160
Speaker 2: making time.

360
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,240
Speaker 1: We are so excited to watch you and root for

361
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,280
Speaker 1: you as you try to be the first water pole

362
00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:16,400
Speaker 1: player male or female to win four Olympic gold medals

363
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,160
Speaker 1: and continue to be the best player on the planet,

364
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:20,080
Speaker 1: have the best time.

365
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 3: Thank you. This is my one. I'm really thinking of.

366
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,360
Speaker 3: This says, you know what's happen in the pasts, half

367
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,440
Speaker 3: in the past, but this teams we're trying to win

368
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,320
Speaker 3: one gold medal and that's where we're at one of

369
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:30,680
Speaker 3: the time.

370
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,719
Speaker 2: That's why you're a champion. That's why you're better than

371
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:33,120
Speaker 2: all of us.

372
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,199
Speaker 1: Because I would be like, let me count them all

373
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,480
Speaker 1: every day before I go, You're like, nope, starting fresh.

374
00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,880
Speaker 3: I love fresh. This is our Yeah, this is our one.

375
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,440
Speaker 1: Thank you so much to Maggie Stefans for stopping by

376
00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,560
Speaker 1: the pod. She squeezed us in as she was getting

377
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,159
Speaker 1: in final preps before flying out to France, and we

378
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:52,280
Speaker 1: couldn't be more grateful.

379
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,360
Speaker 2: We can't wait to watch her dominate.

380
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,680
Speaker 1: US women's water polo and Maggie open up their Olympic

381
00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:02,000
Speaker 1: title defense today with a groupie game against Greece. Watch it,

382
00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,560
Speaker 1: check it out, cheer on, get on your hosts. All right,

383
00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 1: that's it for today's bonus episode. Hope you enjoyed it.

384
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,719
Speaker 1: We'll be back on Monday to discuss the first weekend

385
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:11,840
Speaker 1: of Olympic competition.

386
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:12,760
Speaker 2: Can't wait.

387
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,639
Speaker 1: Good Game, Maggie Steppens, Good Game, Taylor Swift, Hugh broken

388
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:23,160
Speaker 1: noses both Maggie's and mine thirty years ago. Good Game

389
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,879
Speaker 1: with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in

390
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,760
Speaker 1: partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find

391
00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,760
Speaker 1: us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

392
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,879
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers

393
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,119
Speaker 1: are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are

394
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,000
Speaker 1: Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan.

395
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 2: And Emily Rudder.

396
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 1: Our editors are Jenny Kaplan Emily Rudder Britney Martinez and

397
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,959
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your

398
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:51,040
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain.