by Garth Meyer 

She found out May 30th. 

The last time, she was just short.

“I was 14th out of 13,” said Jordan Raney, of Manhattan Beach, about being cut from the 2021 U.S. Olympic women’s water polo team.

This time she made it. She was told the news in an individual meeting with Coach Adam Krikorian.

“Looking back on it now, it’s cool to have both ends of the spectrum, both perspectives,” Raney said. “Now, same training (continued) every day, and fingers crossed, we kick a— in Paris.”

The U.S. has won the last three Olympic Gold medals in women’s water polo. Since May 2023, the current roster – reduced now to 13 players from 17 – has trained three to six hours per day, six days per week at Long Beach Community College and Joint Forces Training Base, at Los Alamitos.

Many of Raney’s teammates had to also hold down jobs.

“I’m lucky that I don’t have to,” said Raney, 28, who writes a weekly blog on Substack. She earned her MBA two years ago from DeVry University, after graduating from Stanford in 2018 with a human biology degree, a minor in English literature, and two water polo national championships.

In her senior year, she was named a First-Team All-American, and Honorable Mention All-American her junior year. 

In high school, as a senior at Mira Costa, Raney led the Mustangs to the 2014 CIF Division Three championship game, and was named CIF MVP for the division. 

Her position is center defender, in a sport in which every player has a speciality, contributing on offense and defense, similar to basketball. 

She started playing water polo at 13. Her father had played, and still does. 

“Soccer, karate, softball, basketball,” Raney said of her life growing up in Manhattan Beach. When she got injured playing soccer, her father encouraged her to try water polo. 

“I invested more time in it and never really thought about soccer again competitively,” she said. 

On a family trip, Raney went to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and saw the women’s water polo final. Her first coach, in eighth grade, Moriah Van Norman, played in that gold medal game. Raney began Olympic development training at age 15. 

Before the 2024 Paris team’s final cut, the group played in a “test event” in Paris in May, an exhibition against France in the Olympic pool venue. Then they received VIP tickets to see Taylor Swift, on the European leg of the “Eras” tour.

“I am not a Swiftie but I can respect a fantastic performer. She’s an athlete, she went for three and a half hours,” Raney said.

The following Q&A took place during a phone interview in June.

How do you compare Olympic team water polo to college?

The biggest difference is the competitiveness within the team. In college there is competitiveness but you’re all on the team. For this, it’s fighting to make the travel team.

What is your favorite book in English Literature?

So many. Right now I’m into personal development. “Awe” by Dacher Keltner …

How did you like growing up in Manhattan Beach?

I thought it was a wonderful place to grow up. You don’t know anything different. The beach as my backyard, the schools were great, I was very fortunate to have grown up there.

How did you like to spend your time, outside of school, sports…?

There was no time. I had no time for a job (or much of anything else).

What is it like to be on a United States Olympic team?

I don’t feel any different, but it doesn’t really feel real. Until I’m there, nothing’s happened yet. 

What needs to be concentrated on between now and the Olympics?

Just doing everything we’ve been doing. There is never a finished product.

New underwater focus

Raney, who started out as a soccer player, tells of the hidden part of water polo, which she played at Stanford and professionally in Greece. 

“In water polo, you can’t see half of the game. You don’t see a lot of the physicality,” she said. “A lot of stuff happens underwater that people don’t know about. Getting kicked and scratched, everywhere, Broken noses, eardrum ruptures …”

Four years ago, World Aquatics, the international governing body for six water sports, amended its bylaws to allow underwater video judging equipment to be used for both initiating calls in water polo and overturning calls made on the pool deck. 

Before, the cameras were only used for reviewing calls already made on the water’s surface.

“People will definitely think twice now about doing different things,” Raney said. ER