San Francisco 2012 - In Their Own Words

“The San Francisco Bay Area public rallies around Water Polo like no other community. Whether it’s Junior Varsity high school games between across-town rivals, the Cal-Stanford match-ups that often settle the national championships in both men’s and women’s polo, or international events such as this July’s Holiday Cup, our region not only understands but also warmly embraces water polo competition. Both the men’s and women’s Olympic teams are heavily reliant on Bay Area athletes who have grown up in our athletics-minded community, with its abundance of aquatics facilities and the ability to train year-around under the ever-present California sunshine.

The George Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara is an institution in the Aquatics world, indelibly linked to several generations of U.S. Olympic excellence in the pool. With its location in close proximity to the Olympic Village at Moffett Field and rail transportation, the Water Polo venue will be easily accessible to athletes and spectators alike. Combine a concentration of pools where so many of the Unites States most decorated Olympians have trained, the promise of beautiful sunshine, the immense pre-existing water polo fan base of the Bay Area, and you have the potential for the greatest Olympic Water Polo spectacle in history. I truly wish I were 5 years younger to have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics one more time. I couldn't think of a better place to compete for the gold medal!”

-Maureen O'Toole, 2000 Water Polo