Team USA’s water polo stars to watch at Paris 2024
The rosters are set, and Team USA is ready to rock the water polo world at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Find out more about team captains Maggie Steffens and Ben Hallock, as well as goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson and top US goal scorer Alex Bowen.
Read on to get to know the key players who will be driving Team USA’s quests for gold this summer.
- US Women’s water polo team looks to secure historic fourth gold medal
- USA announces men’s water polo roster for Paris 2024
Maggie Steffens: seeking to make history with fourth gold
Triple Olympic champion Maggie Steffens is widely regarded as one of the greatest water polo players in history. Together with her sister Jessica, Maggie won her first Olympic gold at London 2012, a feat she repeated at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In 2021, Steffens set a new record for the most goals scored by an individual player in women’s water polo, cementing her legacy as the sport’s highest-scoring woman with 56 Olympic goals.
Entering her collegiate career as an Olympic champion, Steffens helped Stanford clinch three National Championship titles in 2014, 2015, and 2017. Her stellar performances earned her multiple NCAA Tournament MVP honors, along with MSPF Player of the Year and ACPWC Player of the Year awards.
In addition to her three Olympic titles, the American captain has also claimed five world championship titles in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024. If Team USA wins gold in Paris, Steffens will become the first water polo player to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals. A fourth medal of any color would also tie the record tally of Olympic medals for a woman in water polo.
Steffens is a leader both in and out of the pool, set to guide the team once again in Paris. But her influence extends beyond the water, as she also recently helped secure sponsorship for the team from rap legend Flavor Flav.
- Maggie Steffens on the secret to American dominance
Ben Hallock: Team USA’s titan
Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 245 pounds, Ben Hallock is a commanding force in the center of the pool. Hallock first made a splash in high school, where he became California state champion, and began training with the national team shortly after. Like Steffens, he also played for Stanford, and led the Cardinal to an NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, winning back-to-back Cutino Awards in 2018 and 2019 as the nation’s top college player. Hallock debuted for the United States men’s national team in Rio and the squad in Tokyo four years later.
