I go to the University of Southern California and I'm on the men's water polo team . Some of the best pieces of advice that I've gotten are from , uh , current and former Olympians , um , in the sport . Uh , if it's all right , I'm gonna mention , uh , Merrill Moses .
He is a 5 time Olympian in the sport and he currently coaches at Pepperdine water polo . Growing up , he gave me a great piece of advice that was don't be afraid to be different from everybody else . Don't be afraid to train differently .
The education is just as important as the goal of winning a national championship . um , for me personally I think the biggest thing that I could pass on would be to take the education side and the balance into your own hands . uh , for me that looked like taking maybe a class that was a little bit more challenging but that class counted for double the amount of credits .
I think that that would be one of the biggest things . I think the biggest piece of advice is it's gonna be difficult , um , and it's gonna be hard . But make sure that you're always having fun throughout times in my career from where I've gotten to now there have been times where maybe I've gotten a little bit caught up in the sport a little bit caught up in a tournament or a training or something going on .
Um , he's been amazing and has led many different , uh , collegiate athletes into Olympians or formed them into Olympians . So I would say some of the tricks and tips that he's given me are mental strength when in the cage , um , and always being aware of everything around you , not just the goalkeeping position . Being first team all tournament was an absolute honor this last year and I would say that the biggest thing coming into this tournament , it was my second NCA tournament so far in my collegiate career , um , and I just really came in with the mentality that I wanted to dominate .
