Women Come Out On Top In FINA World Championships (Among other places)

Originally Posted on "On the Deck"

[Image is provided courtesy of Kaysie Stuba, whom I’m jealous of due to the wonderful trip she took to Budapest]

As the FINA World Championships concluded for water polo, champions were crowned for the women (USA) and for the men (Croatia – who had overthrown defending champions Serbia is the Final Four). There was also another champion that emerged from this tournament as decisive victors: female athletes.

With the controversy surrounding the reduction of roster sizes to add more women’s teams to the Olympic tournament, another debate had sparked on the future of the sport. However, I will say this: the performances of many of the teams in Budapest showed by far the progress many teams are making (a shout out to Team Canada for their first Final Four finish since the 2000s), while others continue to try to progress (Japan has been making an effort to develop a team in preparation for Tokyo which I applaud).

Some of this can be credited to the number of athletes competing in the NCAA (Team USA and Team Canada have a vast majority of players who competed in the 2017 season), and others are building off Olympic success (Russia medaling here after medaling in Rio too).

So where do we go from here? With the conclusion of this tournament, the only remaining summer competition is the World University Games, which is meant for athletes at the collegiate level to compete in.

While there are professional leagues in Europe that men partake in year round, the number for women is not as prominent as I would have known it to be. In fact, a lot of people I talk to about the subject of women’s water polo agree that to some degree, NCAA Division 1 water polo is one of the most viable options for female players.

I would be lying if I said I disagree with the sentiment; this is because of the fact that, if that’s the case then, it’s working very well. Remember when I said Canada had a number of players on their roster competing in college? Those same players are competing at high level schools from across the US including Hawaii, Cal, USC, Pacific, and Indiana; and those are only current undergraduate students. Those five aren’t just your typical universities; they finished in the Top 25 by the end of 2017, with three of those schools competing in the 2017 NCAA championship.

Australia continues to feature a number of players who competed in the NCAA, the most recent stand out being Michigan’s Maddy Steere. Cal’s Dora Antal and Anna Illes continue to represent Hungary internationally, and Brazil features the likes of Pacific’s Mariana Durate and 2016 NCAA champion USC’s Victoria Chamorro.

So whatever if the NCAA is a driving force, then it is definitely working in the favor of many players. If the success of Team USA has influenced teams to embrace different playing styles, then I would consider that a major driving force too.

There is no denying that Team USA is reaping the benefits of a dynasty as of right now. However, there is another moment for a team that is just as satisfying: the struggle to the top. Just ask anyone who has been a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks since the 90s, or better yet, a fan of the Chicago Cubs even before their triumphant turn in 2016.

One of the biggest thrills a lot of sports fans have are ones in which their team is on top of the world, or they had once achieved greatness, but have yet to reach that hey day since. The US was once that very team as there were low expectations for the US to do well leading up to London. After winning the gold at the 2004 Olympic Games, Italy had come no where near the podium until 2016 when the finished second behind Team USA.

With Russia’s consistency these past two years, and Canada’s growth, who is to say that come the Trek to Tokyo, their fans won’t argue their nation can compete with the US? Who is to say we won’t see a battle for the Olympic title unlike what we have seen before by 2020? Team

USA looks to be at the top of their game as of 2017. However, as long as progress continues for these other nations, fans can expect the true fight for water polo world domination in the years to come.

(Side note: The women of Team USA have been nominated for female team of the month, so I highly recommend fans of Team USA go out there and VOTE!)