Brenda Villa

Brenda Villa was the most decorated female water polo player of the early 21st century. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-09 by Aquatics World Magazine. She played at four Olympic Games, winning a gold medal (2012), two silver medals (2000, 2008), and a bronze medal (2004). In 2018, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.

Villa played at Stanford, leading them to the 2002 NCAA title, when she was awarded the Peter J. Cutino Award as the top female college water polo player in the United States. She was a three-time first-team All-American, graduating in 2003.

She played on the US National Team from 1998-2012, and won 15 gold medals in international competition. These included three gold medals at the World Championships (2003, 2007, 2009), three golds at the Pan American Games (2003, 2007, 2011), the 2010 FINA World Cup, and seven gold medals in the FINA World League (2004, 2006-07, 2009-12). She also played professionally in Italy, leading Geymonat Orizzonte to the LEN Women’s Champions Cup in 2005 and 2006.

Even while playing Villa began a coaching career, starting at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California in 2005. In 2010 she became head swimming and water polo coach at Castilleja High School, a private all-girls high school in Palo Alto, California.