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 . Don't be afraid to stand out , uh , stay afterwards if you need the time , um , and I feel like that's always been a really , really important way to step forward and increase your success in the sport in training at this level , I would say that the most important thing is to be aware of what you need once you've reached this level collegiately , you understand what your own strengths and weaknesses are .
I spent a semester in Barcelona , Spain . I lived at a tennis academy and I trained with semi-professional teams in Spain during the time that all of the pools were closed here in California . That experience really was , was life changing , um , in high school I really enjoyed the sport and had a passion for it and when that was kind of taken away from the COVID pandemic .
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 . Always remember to take a step back and have fun with the people around you , the people that are going through this difficult training this difficult tournament with you , um , and then that way you're always able to push through and really . Attain your goal .
Don't be afraid to train differently . Don't be afraid to stand out , uh , stay afterwards if you need the time , um , and I feel like that's always been a really , really important way to step forward and increase your success in the sport in training at this level , I would say that the most important thing is to be aware of what you need once you've reached this level collegiately , you understand what your own strengths and weaknesses are . Um , and being able to be vulnerable with yourself and understand what your weaknesses are and practicing and trying to improve on those is gonna be an absolute like key player to improving yourself overall .
So a little bit of backstory , I started working with Team USA , um , throughout my like youth throughout age group . Um , Olympic development programs have always been kind of a part of , uh , water polo in general attending , um , these big clinics , um , going through the age group ranks , uh , and more recently as I've aged out of those I've been able and very fortunate to play with the youth teams and now the senior team , and that has been an absolute honor and I'm learning more and more about the balance between . Playing collegiately and then stepping up to the next level playing internationally balance is key , um , and I hope that all coaches that players talk with during the recruiting process emphasize that .
