Flavor Flav finds it an unexpected crossover.
The rap icon previously had only a vague knowledge of water polo having watched the Olympic games on television, but after recently signing a five-year endorsement deal as the official spokesman for the U.S. Women's and Men's National Water Polo Teams, Flav has a new appreciation for the sport and marvels at the immense stamina it takes to play.
“What does rap have to do with water polo? Nothing,” Flav said.
until now.
The story of how this collaboration came about is well known: Maggie Stephens, the longtime captain of the U.S. women's team, posted a photo of her players on her Instagram in May, outlining the challenges athletes often face, such as working multiple jobs while pursuing their Olympic dreams. She encouraged her followers to watch and support women's sports.
Flave, whose manager originally flagged the post, answered the call and pledged his support, and thus was born an unprecedented partnership: Flave and Stevens appeared together on “CBS Mornings” last Monday, where Flave announced he was giving each team member $1,000 and a Virgin Voyages cruise to the team.
“It was a big moment for me,” the 65-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee said. Athletic He plans to attend the Paris Games and cheer on the team as they attempt to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals, a feat that has yet to be achieved by either the men's or women's water polo team.
“I'm here to hype them up, to get them excited about winning a fourth gold medal,” Flav said with the confidence that befits his role, “and I know we can do it. We're going to get it.”
Vlav also said he plans to watch the women's team's final home game before the Olympics against Hungary. He wrote in a post on X that he plans to attend Tuesday's match in Berkeley, California, and sign autographs and take photos before and after the game, but that he won't be able to concentrate during the game.
I'll be at the game on Tuesday taking photos and signing autographs before and after the game, but not during the game, we're all here to support these ladies https://t.co/8AHYAtzE0R
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) July 3, 2024
“I'm trying to get as many people involved as I can,” he said. “Hopefully, my work will inspire more celebrities like me to sponsor Olympic teams, because the athletes are trying so hard to raise the profile of the United States.”
The U.S. women's water polo team is welcoming the attention as it pursues an Olympic record. Coach Adam Krikorian, who has led the United States to more Olympic gold medals than any other coach of any women's water polo team, called water polo an “attention-hungry, fame-seeking sport.”
“We feel like we're a team that sometimes doesn't get the attention,” he said, “so when someone who is in the spotlight shares their love and passion for the team, it's touching. We love it. We welcome it. We hope it inspires others to join the team too.”
Krikorian said he doesn't mind if Flav's interest inspires a group to join them on their bandwagon journey this summer. “We're open to everyone. They didn't have to be with us in the first place,” he said.
The new fans will flock to a team that is synonymous with success: Since he took over in 2009, Krikorian and the U.S. women's team have enjoyed incredible success, winning gold medals in the last three Olympic Games and six of the last nine World Championships.
But Krikorian, a former UCLA water polo star who calls the late legendary basketball coach John Wooden his coaching idol, isn't too interested in results. Scores don't come up when his staff reviews practices or games. He preaches presence over perfection, a philosophy he emphasized when talking about attackman Emily Ausmus, who Krikorian said has taken on a bigger role as a “head-on” defender.
At 18, Ausmus is the youngest player on the team and represents a contingent of athletes with no Olympic experience. The roster is split mostly between debutants (seven) and returning athletes (six). The experience level is a change from the previous Olympic cycle, when most of the athletes on the roster were part of a group that also won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
At the other end of the experience spectrum is Stephens, who has led the U.S. to gold medals in the past three Olympic Games — she was the all-time leading scorer in women's Olympic water polo — and if the U.S. women win gold in Paris, Stephens will become the first water polo player to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals.
The 31-year-old Stephens can rattle off the names of many of the young athletes on this year's national team roster she was connected to earlier in her life, underscoring how these Olympics have been a turning point for her.
Ryan Neuschl, 24, is the third Neuschl sister Stephens will play with at the Olympics. “I remember when she was a little kid,” Stephens said.
— Jenna Flynn and Stephens, photographed together at the Rio Olympics when Flynn was a little girl. “She's at Stanford now and is on the U.S. national team and one of my best friends on the team. We're 11 years apart.”
— Jewel Romer, like Stephens, is from Northern California and grew up attending the boys' practice games at Diablo Valley College, where Romer's father is the coach. “I remember (Jewel) sending me a cute video saying, 'Good luck.'”
— Ausmus attended camps and clinics hosted by Stephens' company, 6-8 Sports. “(She was) a player that we said five, six, eight years ago, 'Wow, this kid is really good. We're really excited to see her potential.'”
“We've really developed a special bond,” Steffens said of the younger group, “and I think it's really cool that they look up to me as a leader and that I look up to them as much as they've looked up to me since they were kids and have been on the same path.”
The U.S. women's water polo team assembles during the gold medal match in Tokyo, Japan, as the U.S. fights for a historic fourth consecutive gold medal. (Marcel ter Valls/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Stephens has great admiration for her teammates, as well as great confidence in them. Ashley Johnson, who will be competing in her third Olympic Games with the U.S. team, called Stephens “a dreamer in every sense of the word.”
“With Maggie by my side, anything really is possible,” said Johnson, 29, the team's goalkeeper and widely considered the best player in the world at his position. “She's the captain, but she's also a friend who paves the way for you to achieve any dream you have. And if you believe in something, she believes in it too, and together you make it happen.”
For example, Johnson said, Steffens often encourages others when they are working through the toughest parts of a workout or pushing through their final swim sets. Outside the pool, when Steffens arrives in a new city after 24 hours on the road, she either has a full itinerary prepared or just explores without a plan. Johnson said she has “the attitude of the Energizer Bunny.”
That boundless energy spilled over into other areas, with Stephens and Johnson becoming de facto water polo ambassadors, a role that didn't necessarily come naturally to them. In 2016, Johnson became the first Black woman selected for the U.S. Olympic water polo team. Over time, she said, she felt more empowered to speak out about her experiences, share her story and champion diversity to inspire others.
Steffens, who joined the team at age 15, said it took her 15 or 16 years to find her voice in terms of advocating for female athletes and being more open about discussing the financial challenges of pursuing sports.
Olympic water polo training takes place in Southern California, a state known for its high cost of living. During Olympic years, training is six days a week, which is essentially a full-time job for the players, Stephens said.
Prize money at the Olympics varies by sport, country and ranking, but the International Olympic Committee and the governing bodies of each sport have traditionally not paid prize money to winners. World Athletics, which governs athletics, announced in April that it would offer $50,000 to gold medalists at the Paris Olympics, the first international federation to do so.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee awarded $37,500 to athletes who won gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, $22,500 to those who won silver medals and $15,000 to those who won bronze medals.
Stephens said she wanted to play water polo – there is no professional women's league in the United States – even if it meant she would have no income and would have to rely on others for support, but she hopes that future water polo players will be able to perform at the highest level and not have to take on other jobs to support themselves.
“Hopefully in the future some people will be able to afford to continue playing water polo and retire later and not feel like they have to retire at 22 to get a 'real job,'” she said.
Steffens said any help is helpful, and Flav's sponsorship is one example of the kind of reward she's received after posting about the topic.
“One of the things I love about water polo and our team is the mentality that's so dedicated and humble and hard working,” Stephens said, “and one of my dreams is to leave this sport and the women in this sport better than when I came in, and hopefully provide more opportunities and exposure and have their stories told and have their names heard.”
Stephens knows she still has a lot of work to do and needs to attract more fans, but every effort counts and so far, she's reaching her goals.
Going deeper
From Stanford to Team USA, water polo dynasty aims for fourth consecutive Olympic title
(Maggie Stephens and Flavor Flav top illustration by Dan Goldfarb / Athletic; Photos: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, Jerrod Harris/Getty Images (Courtesy of the Recording Academy)
