Maggie Steffens

Margaret Ann Steffens (born June 4, 1993) is an American professional water polo player. She won the gold medal with the United States at the 2012,[1] 2016[2] and 2020 Summer Olympics.[3] At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Steffens set a new Olympic record for the most goals scored by an individual player in women's water polo at the Olympic Games.[4][5]

Maggie Steffens
Personal information
Full nameMargaret Ann Steffens
NationalityAmerican
Born (1993-06-04) June 4, 1993
San Ramon, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWater polo
College teamStanford University
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonTeam
Gold medal – first place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoTeam
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 KazanTeam
Gold medal – first place2017 BudapestTeam
Gold medal – first place2019 GwangjuTeam
Gold medal – first place2022 BudapestTeam
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2011 GuadalajaraTeam
Gold medal – first place2015 TorontoTeam
Gold medal – first place2019 LimaTeam
World Cup
Gold medal – first place2010 Christchurch
Gold medal – first place2014 Khanty-Mansiysk
Gold medal – first place2018 Surgut
Gold medal – first place2023 Long Beach
World League
Gold medal – first place2010 La Jolla
Gold medal – first place2011 Tianjin
Gold medal – first place2012 Changshu
Gold medal – first place2014 Kunshan
Gold medal – first place2015 Shanghai
Gold medal – first place2016 Shanghai
Gold medal – first place2017 Shanghai
Gold medal – first place2018 Kunshan
Gold medal – first place2019 Budapest
Gold medal – first place2021 Athens
Bronze medal – third place2013 Beijing
Updated on June 23, 2023.

Early career

Steffens played water polo at Monte Vista High School and helped the team win their league championship in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[6][7] She also played for Diablo Water Polo in Alamo, California.[8]

College career

Steffens attended Stanford University, playing on the women's water polo team from 2013 to 2017. Steffens lead the team to NCAA championships in 2014, 2015, and 2017, and to second-place finishes in 2013 and 2016.

In 2015, Steffens scored four goals in the semifinal game against USC, which Stanford won, 9–8. In 2017, she scored three goals in Stanford's 8-7 championship victory against UCLA, including the winning goal with 9 seconds left. In 2015 and again in 2017 she was named the MVP of the NCAA tournament.[9][10][11][12]

Steffens graduated from Stanford in June, 2017 with a B.S. degree in Science, Technology, and Society. [13]

International career

Her first international appearance was at the 2009 FINA Junior Women's World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, finishing in third place.[14]

Steffens also made her senior debut at the age of 16, at the 10th Holiday Cup in Newport Beach, California, from December 9 to 13, 2009, where she scored twice.[15]

2010

Steffens played on the United States national water polo team which won the 2010 FINA World League Super Final and the 2010 FINA World Cup. She scored the winning goal against Australia in the final match of the FINA World League Super Final.[6]

2011

In 2011, Steffens helped the U.S. win the 2011 FINA World League Super Final again. In the Pan American Games, she scored the winning goal in the shootout of the final match, as the U.S. defeated Canada.[6]

2012

The U.S. won the FINA World League Super Final for the third straight year in 2012, and Steffens led the team with 11 goals.[6]

2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place tournament team
See also: Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics

In the first match of the Summer Olympics, Steffens scored seven goals to tie the Olympic single-game record.[16] She scored 21 total goals in the Olympics, which set a new Olympic record for most goals scored in a women's water polo tournament, as the U.S. won the gold medal.[17][1]

The gold medal Steffens helped win at the 2012 Summer Olympics was the first Olympic gold medal, men's or women's, won by the United States in the sport of water polo at an Olympic Games since the sport's debut at the Olympic Games.[18]

She was named the Best Female Water Polo Player of 2012 by FINA and the 2012 female Water Polo Player of the Year by Swimming World Magazine.[19][20]

2016 Summer Olympics
2016 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place tournament team
See also: Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Steffens was the top goalscorer at the 2016 Olympics with 17 goals, as the U.S. again won the gold medal.[21]

2020 Summer Olympics
See also: Water polo at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Preliminary round

In the first match of the 2020 Summer Olympics water polo tournament in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday July 24, 2021, Steffens helped the USA team win against their opponent, team Japan, with a final score of 25 to 4. She tied for the spot of top scorer in the match with 5 goals.[22] Her first goal was 21 seconds after the start of the match.[23] The score of 25 to 4 set a new Olympic record in the winning margin for a tournament match in women's water polo, the record lasted a few hours until Spain won over South Africa with a score of 29 to 4.[22][23]

In the second match of the tournament against team China, Steffens scored once and left the pool twice to receive medical attention after being cut on her nose.[24][25] Eight of her teammates also scored goals and team USA won the match with a final score of 12 to 7.[25]

Steffens chose to play in the third match of the preliminary round of competition against team Hungary, though the blow that had inflicted a cut on her nose in the match against team China had also broken her nose.[26] She scored one goal for her team in the match against team Hungary, bringing her within four goals of becoming the highest scoring woman in the history of water polo at the Olympic Games.[27] Team Hungary won the match with ten goals to team USA's nine goals.[18][27][28]

In the fourth and final match of the preliminary round matches for team USA, Steffens contributed to final score of 18 to 5 that helped the team win against team ROC.[5][29][30] In the match, Steffens scored her 49th goal at the Olympic Games and set a new Olympic record in the most goals scored by a female water player over the course of their athletic career competing at the Olympic Games.[4][5][30][31]

Elimination rounds
2020 Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place tournament team

In the quarterfinal match in the elimination rounds of competition, team USA competed against team Canada and won in a final score of 16 to 5 with Steffens scoring three of the goals for team USA.[32] In the team USA semifinal match against team ROC, Steffens scored three of the goals for team USA, the team won with a final score of 15 to 11 and advanced to the gold medal match against team Spain.[33] In the gold medal match, team USA won the gold medal in dominating fashion over Spain, 14 to 5, with Steffens scoring one of the goals for the team.[34] The USA women's water polo team winning their third Olympic gold medal in a row was chosen by FINA as the number five moment from the 2020 Olympic Games.[35]

Club career

In January 2018, Steffens signed contract with Hungarian professional club UVSE from Budapest.[36] On May 10, 2018, she won the Hungarian Championship.

In the summer of 2018, she transferred to Spanish Club Natació Sabadell winning three titles: Spanish Cup, Spanish Championship and LEN Euro League.[37]

Personal life

Steffens was born in San Ramon, California to Peggy Schnugg and Carlos Steffens. She is the youngest of four children (Jessica, Charlie and Teresa). Her father, a native of Puerto Rico, became interested in the sport of water polo after witnessing a match as a child in Puerto Rico. He played for Puerto Rico in three Pan American Games. Her father left the island and joined the water polo team of Berkeley, University of California where he became a three-time All-American, leading the California Golden Bears to the 1977 NCAA championship.[38][39][40] In 1979, he was the PAC-10 player of the year in water polo.[41]

Maggie Steffens lives in Danville, California. She became interested and was influenced in the sport of water polo mainly by her father and sister, Jessica Steffens, who is also on the United States national team.[6]

Steffens became an advisor to women's sports website Just Women's Sports in 2020.[42] She said her goal in working with the company was to increase the awareness of the number of female role models in sports.

See also

References
  1. "Olympics: Danville's Maggie Steffens scores five goals as U.S. water polo team captures first-ever gold medal". mercurynews.com. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  2. "Rio Olympics 2016: U.S. women earn water polo gold medal". dailynews.com. Jeff Miller. 19 August 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  3. Brennan, Christine (August 7, 2021). "US women's water polo team wins third straight Olympic gold, dominates Spain". USA Today. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  4. "Team USA's Maggie Steffens Breaks Water Polo Olympic Scoring Record". Sports Illustrated. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  5. Greaney, Alec (July 30, 2021). "Maggie Steffens Tops All-Time List in USA Water Polo's Big Bounceback Win". NBC 4. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  6. "Maggie Steffens". usawaterpolo.org. Retrieved August 9, 2012. Archived August 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Maggie Steffens". teamusa.org. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  8. "Maggie Steffens". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  9. "Maggie Steffens". Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  10. "Women's Water Polo History". Retrieved May 20, 2017
  11. "2015 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship". Retrieved May 20, 2017
  12. "Stanford Wins its Sixth". Retrieved May 20, 2017
  13. "Maggie Steffens on Instagram: "It's official!!! Graduated with a B.S. From Stanford University today! 👩🏻‍🎓❤️🌲 May have taken some extra time #gapyears , but only to add extra special memories 🤗 #happyhappy #stanfordalumni #gradweek #STS"".
  14. "2009 FINA Junior Women’s World Championships" waterpoloplanet.com August 15, 2009.
  15. "Team USA Downs Italy 8-2 On Night Two Of Holiday Cup" usawaterpolo.org December 10, 2009.
  16. "Steffens ties Olympic water polo scoring record". paloaltoonline.com. July 30, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  17. "Official Results Book – 2012 Olympic Games – Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. p. 345. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. "United States women's water polo team suffer first Olympic defeat in 13 years". The Guardian. July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  19. "FINA Names Maggie Steffens Best Female Water Polo Player Of 2012" Archived 2013-01-20 at the Wayback Machine. usawaterpolo.org. January 4, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  20. "Now Available December Swimming World Magazine Names Water Polo Players of the Year". swimmingworldmagazine.com. December 8, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  21. "Official Results Book – 2016 Olympic Games – Water Polo" (PDF). olympic.org. IOC. p. 193. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  22. Lepesant, Madeleine (July 24, 2021). "USA Defeats Japan By Historic 25-4 to Open Water Polo at #Tokyo2020". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  23. Hamilton, Tom (July 24, 2021). "Olympics 2021: U.S. Water Polo makes history with 25-4 win over Japan before Spain top record". ESPN. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  24. De George, Matthew (July 26, 2021). "Through Twists and Turns, Kaleigh Gilchrist Follows Father's Footsteps to Tokyo Olympics". Swimming World. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  25. "Olympics-Water polo-U.S. women bloodied but unbowed in battle with China". Reuters. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  26. Nussey, Sam (July 28, 2021). "Water polo-Nursing broken nose, U.S. women's team captain fights on". Reuters. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  27. De George, Matthew (July 28, 2021). "Hungary Snaps U.S. Women's Water Polos 12-Game Olympic Winning Streak". Swimming World. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  28. Cohen, Jay (July 28, 2021). "US women's water polo team handed rare loss at Olympics". Associated Press. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  29. "Water polo-Days after breaking nose, Steffens breaks scoring record". Reuters. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  30. "Tokyo Olympics overnight: Danville's Maggie Steffens sets Olympic record". San Francisco Chronicle. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  31. "Steffens breaks all-time Olympic scoring record". FINA. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  32. Omega Timing; Atos (August 3, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Water Polo Women Quarterfinal Results: CAN 5 - 16 USA" Archived 2021-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  33. Omega Timing; Atos (August 5, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Water Polo Women Semifinal Results: ROC 11 - 15 USA" Archived 2021-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  34. Omega Timing; Atos (August 7, 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Water Polo Women Gold Medal Match Results: ESP 5 - 14 USA" Archived 2021-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  35. "Tokyo Olympics: Top 10 moments". FINA. November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  36. Pinelli, Brian (2018-05-04). "An American Water Polo Star Tries to Conquer Something New: Hungary". The New York Times.
  37. "Sabadell's 5-0 resurrection earns them the trophy and Easter joy". LEN.eu. April 20, 2019.
  38. San Jose Mercury News
  39. FOR THE STEFFENS, WATER POLO IS A FAMILY AFFAIR, ESPN
  40. Steffens Family Legacy
  41. Seven Bay Area players selected to U.S. women's Olympic water polo team
  42. Rosen, Haley (10 March 2020). "Maggie Steffens on role models, media, and JWS". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
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