“It’s a brand new event and so much hard work goes into it, so to come out here and show the world what the USA can do, it’s really something, and we’re only going to step it up from here.”

“We did most of our training in our pool in Kyiv. Our biggest challenge leading up to the competition is the current state of our country. The ongoing war makes us unable to undergo the complete training program that we need. We always need to (be prepared) to take shelter in a safe location when we are under the threat of air raids. The air raid sirens greatly hinder our ability to sleep. We have to always be ready to rush to the air raid shelter at a moment's notice. This is what everyday life is like during a war."

“It is very important for the water polo world that South Africa is here and that water polo can grow in Africa and give us more teams.”