STANFORD, Calif. – Four Stanford women’s water polo players will represent the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil it was announced Thursday. Makenzie Fischer, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann and Maggie Steffens were named to the U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team by head coach Adam Krikorian during a press conference held at the LA84 Foundation in Los Angeles.
Fans will have a chance to see those four and the rest of Team USA at Avery Aquatic Center when Stanford hosts “Rumble to Rio,” its heralded quadrennial Olympic send-off for the United States. This year’s event will pit the U.S. against Russia on Wednesday, July 27 at 7 p.m., the day in between the first and second sessions of the 2016 Junior Olympics which are also in the Bay Area, and is the U.S.’s final match before heading to Rio in defense of its 2012 Olympic gold.
Each of the previous four send-offs at Stanford have been sellouts and in the most recent edition, 2012’s “Lunging to London,” a crowd of 3,046 watched Team USA capture a stunning 17-8 victory over Hungary before the United States went on to win the women’s water polo program’s first Olympic gold medal.
Ticket information a further details for “Rumble to Rio” will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fischer, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Stanford in the fall of 2014, deferred her enrollment and will be a freshman on The Farm beginning with the 2016-17 academic year. Neushul, a two-time Peter J. Cutino Award winner and three-time NCAA champion, wrapped up her Stanford career in May 2015 and finished as the Cardinal’s third all-time leading scorer with 222 goals.
Seidemann and Steffens won gold at the 2012 London Olympics with Team USA. Seidemann graduated in 2013 following a season in which she scored 75 goals, won the Peter J. Cutino Award and was named the ACWPC Player of the Year. Her 239 career goals are tied for the most in Stanford single-season history and are ninth in MPSF history.
A two-time FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year and United States team captain, Steffens was the 2012 Olympics MVP after scoring 21 goals in London. A two-time NCAA champion and the 2015 ACWPC Player of the Year, Steffens took the 2015-16 academic year off from Stanford and possesses one more season of eligibility with the Cardinal.
In the relatively short history of Olympic women’s water polo, Stanford alumnae have played a significant role in the fortunes of the United States since the first women’s tournament at the 2000 Sydney Games. Over the four women’s Olympic tournaments since 2000, Stanford boasts nine of its alumnae combining to make a total of 14 appearances for Team USA at the Olympics.
The United States will open competition at the Olympic Games on August 9 against Spain. The game takes place four years to the day after the USA women won Olympic gold in London by defeating the same Spain squad. Drawn into Group B, Team USA will meet China and Hungary in preliminary play. The medal round is scheduled for August 19.
The U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team is currently ranked No. 1 in the world. It has won every major tournament since 2014 including the FINA World Championship, FINA World Cup, Pan American Games and three FINA World League Super Final titles. This past March the group claimed gold at the Olympic Qualification Tournament, earning a berth to the 2016 Olympic Games following a 19-0 victory over France in the quarterfinal round.