Three players from Santa Barbara stepped forward to receive gold medals with the U.S. women’s water polo team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. All three — Kami Craig, Kiley Neushul, and Sami Hill — have since retired from the national team.
The end of an era? No way.
Like the roses at the Old Mission garden, top-caliber athletes keep blooming out of the Santa Barbara water polo community, and a new trio — Paige Hauschild, Jamie Neushul, and Amanda Longan — is bound for this summer’s postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.