She is one of the best water polo players in the world, but Brenda Villa has never managed to get her hands on Olympic gold.
Villa, a born and raised Californian, will compete with the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team in her fourth Olympic Games in just a few days. She first competed in 2000 in the Sydney Olympics, where she — along with the team — won the silver medal. Four years later it was time to go to Athens, where she got a bronze medal. Then four years ago, in Beijing, Villa got a silver medal once more. Only one goal separated the team from the gold in Sydney and Beijing.
Now, the 32-year-old Latina goes on to London, where she hopes to finish her career in the center of the medal podium.
“I don’t even feel like I’m 32,” Villa recently told USA Today. “It’s like really, this is my fourth Olympics? I don’t know where the time went, but I’ve been having a great time playing water polo. So I guess when you’re having fun, times does really fly, right?”
Villa, who went to Stanford University and graduated in 2003 with a degree in political science, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants Ines — a garment worker — and Rosario — a janitor. She is an attacker on the team — not to mention the team captain — and she got started in water polo when she was 8 years old, following in the footsteps of her older brother, Edgar. Since then, she has become the most decorated athlete in the sport, with several world championship titles under her belt in addition to her Olympic wins. Now she plans to retire, in order to pursue other things in both her personal and professional life.
But just because Villa will retire once the London games come to a close, doesn’t mean that this athlete doesn’t have some big plans. Villa — who grew up in the predominantly Latino community of Commerce, Calif., alongside her two brothers — founded Project 20/20, an organization meant to give lower-income children the opportunity to swim and try water polo and maybe, just maybe, they’ll be able to make it to the 2020 Olympic Games.
In addition to dedicating more time to Project 20/20, Villa will become full-time coach at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, Calif. Her hard work and discipline have paid off, and now it’s her time to give back to the community.
It remains to be seen whether Villa will go out with a fizzle or a bang, but given the Latin blood running through her veins, it’s safe to lean towards the latter option.