WEBVTT - BONUS: In My Paris Era with Maggie Steffens 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.399 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're celebrating 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.360 Day one of the Paris Olympics by sending a hot 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:08.840 bonus episode your way. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:09.840 That's right. 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:13.360 While we normally release episodes Monday through Friday, y'all know 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:16.799 the saying. On the sixth day, the bonus episode was 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.200 gifted to celebrate the start of the Olympic water polo tournament. 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:22.560 I caught up with the best player in the world, 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.680 Maggie Stephans, not only an amazing athlete, but an amazing person, 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:31.200 and I loved this conversation so much. In Paris, Maggie 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.760 has the chance to become the first water polo player 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:38.720 of any gender to win four Olympic gold medals. Here's 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:44.680 our conversation. Enjoy joining us now. She's the captain of 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.480 the US women's water polo team, widely considered the best 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.080 water polo player on the planet, and as such, I 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.480 think she deserves a little time here. We got quite 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.200 the resume to read, so settle in. In college, she 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.840 led her Stanford team to NCAA championships in twenty fourteen, fifteen, 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.120 and seventeen, and a second place finish. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:03.800 In twenty thirteen. 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.360 In the first match of the Summer Olympics in twenty twelve, 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:10.600 she scored seven goals to tie the Olympic single game record. 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.200 Went on to score twenty one total goals in the Olympics, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.880 set a new Olympic record for most goals scored in 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:17.520 a women's water polo tournament, and. 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:18.679 The US one gold. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.200 That gold was the first Olympic gold medal men's or 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.199 women's won by the US in waterpolo at Olympic Games 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:28.600 since the sports debut. Then twenty sixteen Olympics top goal 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.240 scorer again seventeen goals as the US wins gold. 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.040 Twenty twenty, she sets. 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:34.840 A new Olympic record for most goals scored by an 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.400 individual player in women's waterpolo at the Olympics. She's got 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.240 a tradition of getting a new bill to bear before 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:43.040 every Olympics, and we once crashed a wedding together. It's 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:48.120 Maggie Stevens. What's up, Maggie, Hey, Sarah, great intro, Thank you. 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:49.120 I give mil mob. 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:51.880 I still think about us crashing the wedding and being 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.280 very confident that the people there would be interested in 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.919 you and your gold medal showing up at their wedding. 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:00.480 It's funny because now that I've had a wedding, I'm like, 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:02.080 who ever let us in? 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.040 Neither of us were married at the time. We didn't know. 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:05.920 We didn't know. 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.519 You know, that's ourry excuse. But they loved it. I 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.240 really did love us coming in and having a little 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:12.919 dance party. 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:15.520 They really did love it, which I'm grateful for because 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.160 when I think back, I'm like, that was a little awkward. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.240 We just invited ourselves to their wedding and we were 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:21.240 not dress appropriately. 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:22.200 But they did teach us. 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.000 It was an Indian wedding, so they were teaching us 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:28.519 dances and they were wearing your metals. So I chalk 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:30.680 it up to a win for them, regardless of whether 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.079 we would have wanted them at our wedding. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.800 You know, we can have memories that we tell ourselves 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:37.120 where we're perfect to go. 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:38.160 So there you go. 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:39.320 It was a win win. 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:40.519 It's a win win. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:42.320 We have so much to get to and not much 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:44.640 time because you're about to leave for Paris. I'm so 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.040 pumped to watch you and I want you on in 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.920 part because I don't know that the average American is 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.959 super familiar with water polo and super familiar with your 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.680 greatness and the greatness of your team. Now we have 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:57.639 a certain hype man that's helping with that. We'll get 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.440 to him later, but I want to start with just 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:01.200 the basics. It's like if you're trying to tell a 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:04.600 friend or someone that you just made an acquaintance with, like. 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.040 Hey, you should really watch water polo. What are you 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:07.600 telling them? 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:09.600 What's like the couple things that will make it more 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:11.480 fun to watch for them and that they need to know. 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.120 Yeah, So I think the first thing is I really 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.440 want to change the rhetoric with water polo. I feel 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.919 like so often I say water polo and the first 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.480 question I get asked phil is oh, so do you 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.480 stand on the bottom? And I really want to change that. 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.400 I'm like, I don't know how long it's gonna take, 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.720 but the first thing I want to just get out 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.800 there and hopefully this question no longer gets asked. But 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.280 we never touch the bottom of the pool. We are 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.840 always doing egg beater or you can call it treading water, 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.440 so we're never really at rest. And when you see 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.520 photos of water pool players shooting the ball like a 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.280 baseball and we're up out of the water, it is 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.680 our own strength, our own force, our own power, not 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:55.960 the bottom of the pool. 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:58.280 So because that's the worst one on the bottom of 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.680 the pool, right, it's the horses fed the polo that's 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:00.880 on the. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:06.200 Bottom of Yes, support that as well. So that's I 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.720 think my first that's like my goal. I've realized if 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.960 we can just get even somebody who's never heard of 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.480 the sport, never watched it, but you know, it'd be 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:18.560 like asking a basketball player like, oh, so do you fly? 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.880 It's like no, Or do you use a ladder to dunk? Yeah? 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.520 Yeah? Do you yeah? Yeah, exactly. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.120 Well, that's one of the things I remember about first 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:28.720 meeting you and you talking. 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:29.960 To us at an espnW summit. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.200 There were these pictures of Lebron James coming out of 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.440 the water shooting for a photo shoot, and then there 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:38.720 were the outtakes of you and several of your teammates 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.240 underwater holding him up because you were explaining just how 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.760 hard it is, even for great athletes to be out 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.960 of the water in that position and shooting, and it 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.120 really like made clear to me just how physically tough 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.560 it is to do what you're doing. It's also a 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.520 very physical sport, so if people are just watching for 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:57.120 the first time. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.400 What do they need to know about going on under 0:04:59.440 --> 0:04:59.839 the water? 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:03.279 Yeah, so there's definitely two games going on. There's a 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.920 game that you can kind of see above water, which 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:12.800 I relate a lot to basketball, soccer, and hockey. It's 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.479 similar to basketball in the sense that you have all 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.200 players playing defense and offense. Everybody is kind of ebb 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.320 and flow, counter attacking, counter defense, and you're kind of 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.240 playing around a center position, the kind of the bigger 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.080 player in the middle, and you're trying to get the 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.479 ball to them. And then you have your Steph Curries, 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.040 you have your Lebron James, you have your Caitlin Clark's, 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:38.000 like you have the outside shooters, the drivers, and soccer 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.719 with the sense you have a goalie and you have 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.880 a big net. But I think what is tough to 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.400 understand and see, like you're hinting at, is the underwater game. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.720 And that's where you get kind of the wrestling, the judo, 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.840 the physicality of hockey. And again you're not standing around 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.360 the bottom of the pool. You know, I love calling 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.440 it your own power, your own force. You're creating, you know, 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.560 your own energy. And while you're doing that, you have 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.920 people you know, trying to get you off balance, maybe 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.400 giving you a little pick. A lot of times people 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.840 are holding your suit, you know, kind of bear hugging 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.400 you underwater, and you have to try to stay cool, 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.839 calm and collected above water and still try to achieve 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.640 what needs to get done while underwater. There's this whole 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:27.680 other gaal happening, yeah, which I love. I love it. 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.000 It's not for everybody, but I think that's what makes 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:31.320 it so exciting. 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:34.480 I know, you've broken your nose, that's above water, underwater, 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.880 what's the wildest thing that maybe an opponent has done 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:37.839 or that you've had happen. 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:39.040 Yeah. 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.799 So, unfortunately, I broke my nose in the second game 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.640 of Tokyo in the Olympics. That made the rest of 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.120 the Olympics definitely quite painful, but it kind of just 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.680 felt like, hey, bring it on, you know, we're here. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.320 But that was, to be honest, that was an accident. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.359 I've that was the first time I've broken my nose, 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.159 and I had actually done an interview right for the Olympic, so, hey, like, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.000 waterflow is pretty physical. I was like, honestly, most of 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.880 my injuries are from overuse and and you know, over 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:12.560 intensity and then I totally myself, so never doing that again. 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.800 But yeah, that one just it's definitely very physical and 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.800 you're you know, you're putting your face right into people's 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.640 elbows and hands and whatever. So that happened versus China, 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:28.000 which was unfortunate, but got back in, kept playing and 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:30.480 most of my injuries. I got surgery a couple of 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.120 years ago on my shoulder. And you know, you can 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.640 relate to a lot to baseball, just like you can 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.280 imagine pictures like you're just throwing the ball so much 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.640 and you're swimming, so think of the injuries that swimmers 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.600 have on their shoulders and mix that with baseball players 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.880 and that's what water polow players have because you're doing 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:53.760 both right. Yeah, so that's kind of where the you know, 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:55.640 you need to just be sharp. That's where we do 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.520 like a lot of weightlifting and you know a lot 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.960 of strength training to be ready for that and to 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.400 be fit enough to handle the load and intensity. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.560 We got to pay some bills, but more with Maggie 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:16.400 Stephens after the break. Maggie, I'm loving this flavor flav 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.480 Era of the water polo team. 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.560 You and flav would need to be friends. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.680 I mean, yeah, We've. 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.760 Been to both of you and it just makes social. 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.040 It does make sense. That's a weird makes a flavor 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:29.920 flav makes sense. 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.079 He recently signed a five year deal to be the 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.840 official hype man of US water polo. It has been 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.679 incredibly fun watching him hype you guys up, interacting with 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.079 the team, getting in the pool. Take us to how 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.200 this started, because it really started with you. 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.040 Yeah, I mean, I honestly have you to think for 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:49.839 a lot of this and a lot of the women 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.960 that I've kind of met at whether it's like espnW 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.640 events or Women's Sports Foundation events, but I feel like 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:01.000 I always leave those weekends or even if it's just 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:05.120 like a few hours, just feeling really empowered to actually 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.840 make a difference. And whether that's with my voice or 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.120 with my actions or you know, just a behind the 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.280 scenes and it's something that I've been you know, doing 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.120 for you know, I would say ever since kind of 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.560 the twenty sixteen Quad twenty twelve, I was like just 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:24.880 Trent's fad and with Flaves, it kind of just happened 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:30.000 with deciding, Hey, like we're heading into Paris, this could 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.360 be my last Olympics. I have no idea but we're 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.760 going to Paris, which is where the first Olympics for 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:41.480 women originated, and now we have fifty percent of women 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:45.800 competing in the games. Like how amazing is that development 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:49.120 and growth and at the same time of how exciting 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.120 that is. I looked around at my teammates while we 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.640 were under the tower. I was like, we're still just 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.120 kind of water polo, you know, like still people are 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.520 asking are you standing on the bottom of the or 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.720 are we on horses? Or they don't know Maddie Meselman's story, 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.760 they don't know Ashley Johnson, they don't know Rachel Fatal, 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.520 they don't know these girls that to me, I'm like, 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.520 you know, to me, they're my cover girls, right like 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:19.400 they're the people I I feel like could be leading 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.520 all of these different commercials or whatever. It is just 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.480 not because of just the athletes and accolades that they've had, 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.760 but the women that they are, the role models, they 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.680 are the you know what they do outside of the pool, 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.280 and you know, not as many people know. But it's 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:39.320 not like people join the Olympic team, especially or like 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.680 water polo to you know, be rich and famous or 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.880 get money or be on TV like you're doing it 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.880 for the love of the sport, you're doing it for 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:49.680 the love of each other, You're doing it for the 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.600 love of your country and your family, and you kind 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.440 of have this head down, grinded out mentality as water 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.760 polo players with that like underwater game. And so I 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.800 just like put on Instagram, hey, like empowering people to 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.480 try a different sport this Olympics, right, like watch maybe 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.840 one of the more niche sports that isn't always you 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.000 don't see every year like during the Olympics, NBC do 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.960 is such an amazing job of highlighting all these different 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.079 sports and it's something I'm so grateful for. But then 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.199 it's like, you know, everybody kind of disappears in those 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:24.760 three years in between. So how do we keep that 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.199 going during those three years in between? And whether it's 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:32.680 water polo or rugby or you know, fencing something that 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.800 maybe you didn't learn about, just try to learn it 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:40.560 and watch it this Olympics, right and Flave, you know, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.560 responded to it, and I was kind of just asking 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:47.080 for support as well. A lot of us have you know, 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.360 different jobs to help financially support ourselves to try to 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:56.200 achieve this dream, and Flavor Flave responded and kind of 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:57.480 just steamrolled from. 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:57.760 There and. 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.520 It has really become a part of our team in 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.480 that way and has been a great hype man. I 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:09.480 think one thing he's done really well is any light 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.319 that has been shined, he's shined it back on us, 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.960 and I think that's really commendable. And I've met him 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:20.720 a ton of different time, super genuine, really authentic, and 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.120 I really love he's Like he got in with us, 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:27.600 he had the courage in, he was awesome. He like 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.040 I said, we've had people get in and it's a struggle, 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:34.800 you know. And he jumped right in pigh fived all 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.520 of us. Then literally was like Maggie passing me the 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:40.800 ball and I was like, oh my god, okay, and 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:42.640 passed him the ball and he just wanted to start 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.360 shooting against Sashley Johnson, who for those who don't know 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:50.720 the rest, in my mind, that's goalkeeper ever and he 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:52.720 just went right for it. I feel like that's his attitude. 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.480 He was smiling the whole time, and his son was there, 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.600 which was really cute, and I think that's just who 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.040 he is. He's he's a go getter. He does everything 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.000 kind of one hund and we talked a lot, you know. 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:07.880 I was talking to him about kind of the makeup 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.120 of water polo and how much it needs to grow 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.679 and it needs to grow, and also different communities and 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.040 in different backgrounds with just the accessibility to pools and 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:22.240 water and just trying to create this new avenue for 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.280 people to see the sport. And if you see it right, 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.120 you believe you could possibly do that. And there's tons 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:33.600 of people who maybe we're following flave for Public Enemy 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.280 or whatever it is, and now we're like, WHOA, what's 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.800 this water polo thing? And maybe now their kids are like, 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.680 what's that water flags about in the water? Maybe I 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:44.480 can too, right, so cool and just creating that that 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.840 I that doorway, that window to me that and of itself. 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:52.040 He could do nothing else, and that has been great 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:52.800 for our sport. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.120 It's been so fun to watch and I can't wait 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.439 to watch that relationship continue to develop at the Olympics. 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:01.079 I know you have run because you have to train 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:04.520 to win another gold medal, so quick. Last question, one 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.920 of the experiences you also had in this incredible lead 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:08.959 up where your team thankfully is getting some more love 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.439 and attention is Taylor Swift hook the whole team open 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.240 tickets to a show VIP style. 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:16.880 I need I need to highlight from that. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.640 Okay, So we went to Paris to we've done this 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:23.960 every quad ever since I joined the team in two 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.760 thousand and nine thy ten where we go to the 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:31.320 host city before the tournament for a test game. And 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.960 it's a way for us to you know, not only 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.000 get a test game in the venue, but also you 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.640 kind of get all the distractions out of the way, right, 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.760 Like when you're in Paris in the Olympic village, you 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.680 don't want to be hearing from your family how they're 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:46.680 going down the set and they're in NiFe and tower 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.640 and they're eating these amazing food. We've done that. You know, 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.680 it's like you're in focus mode. The knife is sharpened 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.520 and you want to just chop right. And Paris we 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.320 went before to kind of sharpen the knife right, get 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:04.920 the distraction out. And Taylor Swift was performing in the 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:10.960 Olympic venue, so where is held and where the quarterfinals, 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:14.440 semi finals and finals of Waterfolow will be held in 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.840 Law Defense Arena, which is where she was performing, and 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.600 so kind of jokingly we were like, oh, the only 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.680 way we could visualize, right, which is such an important 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:28.040 part pre Olympics, like visualizing and going to the venue 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.840 and kind of seeing what it could be like would 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:32.960 be to go to a Taylor Swift concert, right Like, 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.920 we're kind of joking about it, but we don't have 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.640 time for that. We don't have the money for that, obviously. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:44.840 And our team leader, Ali Beck or our manager, she's 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.960 been amazing and she actually just started reaching out without 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.480 us knowing, to Taylor Swift's PR, Like she just was. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:57.040 Cold calling, cold emailing, just putting it out there and 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.960 she got the job done. She was able to get 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.200 in touch with their PR and kind of just said, hey, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.760 like women's waterfolow is here the USA team They're going 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:12.640 to be hopefully competing in this arena for the Olympics 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:16.800 or the quarterfinals, and hopefully semi files a blate vigls like, 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:18.760 is there any way we could come to one of 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.040 your shows? And it kind of took a while, but 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.880 they ended up responding. And I do believe Flave also, 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.680 who apparently is like a king Swift ye had also 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:30.920 I think he put a message in there which I'm 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:35.160 sure helped, right like Loes. Yeah, And so we ended 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:40.040 up getting surprised one day and canceled practice that night. 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:41.960 It was the night before we left, so you know, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.200 we'd kind of already done our test game and everything, 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.320 and we all got so excited. We went to Taylor Swift. 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:52.640 We made friendship brieflet and I I'd nerve Ben to 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.120 the Swift concert. I didn't know this, there was this 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.960 whole thing, but it was really fun. It was great 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.840 team bonding and we got led back stage. I got 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:02.800 to see Paramore like doing their jumping jacks. 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:03.880 I was like, oh wow. 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:06.560 And then we got led to this like awesome little 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.800 VIP area where for us it was really special because 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.720 we got to beat just with our team, and it 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.600 was a really special moment because not only were we 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.040 able to see the arena and visualize and and have that, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.960 but we got to see Taylor Swift live. But I 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.639 think she embodied kind of who we want to be, 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.439 right Like she was playing in front of thousands and 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.639 thousands of fans and just being this strong, badass woman 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.520 who thrived under that pressure and was having fun, and 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.240 that's kind of who we want to become. That moment, 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:43.480 so tears going on. Yeah, people were more into it, 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.320 you know, a lot of singing and dancing, and yeah, 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.520 we left Paris on a high note, and I hope 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.760 that we can take that high note and you know, 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.000 channel it for these next few weeks. 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.080 Flavor Flavor. Putting Taylor Swift in touch with the US 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.880 women's water pole team in Paris is a mad lib 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:03.840 and I'm obsessed. 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.560 This is so good, Maggie. Thank you so much for 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:08.160 making time. 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.240 We are so excited to watch you and root for 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.280 you as you try to be the first water pole 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:16.400 player male or female to win four Olympic gold medals 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.160 and continue to be the best player on the planet, 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:20.080 have the best time. 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.760 Thank you. This is my one. I'm really thinking of. 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.360 This says, you know what's happen in the pasts, half 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:28.440 in the past, but this teams we're trying to win 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:30.320 one gold medal and that's where we're at one of 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:30.680 the time. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.719 That's why you're a champion. That's why you're better than 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:33.120 all of us. 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.199 Because I would be like, let me count them all 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.480 every day before I go, You're like, nope, starting fresh. 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.880 I love fresh. This is our Yeah, this is our one. 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.440 Thank you so much to Maggie Stefans for stopping by 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.560 the pod. She squeezed us in as she was getting 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.159 in final preps before flying out to France, and we 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:52.280 couldn't be more grateful. 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.360 We can't wait to watch her dominate. 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.680 US women's water polo and Maggie open up their Olympic 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:02.000 title defense today with a groupie game against Greece. Watch it, 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.560 check it out, cheer on, get on your hosts. All right, 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.359 that's it for today's bonus episode. Hope you enjoyed it. 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.719 We'll be back on Monday to discuss the first weekend 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:11.840 of Olympic competition. 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:12.760 Can't wait. 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:17.639 Good Game, Maggie Steppens, Good Game, Taylor Swift, Hugh broken 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:23.160 noses both Maggie's and mine thirty years ago. Good Game 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.879 with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.760 partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.760 us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.879 get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.119 are Alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:42.000 Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan. 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:42.600 And Emily Rudder. 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.359 Our editors are Jenny Kaplan Emily Rudder Britney Martinez and 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.959 Grace Lynch. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:51.040 Host Sarah Spain.