Maggie Steffens is tough. There's no doubt about that. You don't win Olympic gold in a sport like water polo three times without being incredibly tough. We're not just talking physical toughness though. You also don't tie the single-game record for goals in your first-ever Olympics match or win tournament MVP at age 19 on strength or endurance alone. As with all sports, it's the mental side that makes all the difference.
"[Water polo] reminds me of a never-ending chessboard," Steffens told Malcom Harris-Gowdie. "The chess pieces keep moving, whether that's physical or mental. You're in an endurance game that's constantly evolving."
The thing about water polo is there's an underwater game, an overwater game and an internal game. All require athletes like Steffens to find the balance between physical and mental. Players' legs are constantly churning to keep their upper bodies above the water. They sprint back and forth across the pool. They wrestle for position. They launch rockets at the net. And they do it all while managing not to drown.
Steffens handles it all better than just about anyone.
Maggie Steffens is a master of water polos physical and mental chessgame
You know that photo of Michael Phelps with all his Olympic medals draped around his neck? Yeah, Steffens could replicate that with three Olympic golds, three NCAA championships, two NCAA Tournament MVPs and three World Aquatics Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year awards. Not to mention titles at just about every international level as well as club championships in Hungary and Spain.
The physical game sounds tough enough. For Steffens, the mental game requires more. Even if you generate the resilience to deal with the physical demands on your body, you still need your brain to function like that of a chessplayer. Ball movement, zone or press defending, counterattacking and power play tactics require tactical calculations done on the fly.
"You're jumping into a war in the water," Steffens says. “Honestly, one of the hardest parts of water polo is jumping into the water because you know how tough it's going to be."
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That's where the life lessons really hit: It's never just about you, it's about you and your team.
"Water polo is a team sport, so that mental toughness you can find within yourself but you can also gather it and source it from your teammates," Steffens says. That's what she does and she urges other athletes to appreciate that special element of team sports.
As it happens, Steffens' family and team are sometimes interchangeable. She is from a family of water polo players. Her father and uncle played at Cal. Her siblings Teresa and Charlie also played for the Golden Bears while Maggie followed her other sister Jessica to Stanford. Even before college, Steffens was reaching the pinnacle of the sport. As a high school senior, she won gold alongside Jessica at the London Games in 2012, earning MVP honors on top of that.
"I love being part of a team and being surrounded by other likeminded individuals who inspire you every day," Steffens says. "It's hard to find that. So soak that in as much as possible."
After all, as Steffens affirms, it's easier to find your inner toughness when you find love and joy in the things you do.