Katherine O’Dea of the Wilson water polo team with the women’s youth national team – The562.org
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For top young water polo players in America, traveling the world is second nature. For Wilson water polo star Katherine O’Dea, it’s her whole life.
O’Dea recently participated in the 2024 Pythia Cup in Itea, Greece, as part of the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team and has begun training in preparation for the Women’s U18 Water Polo World Championship in China from September 15-22.
“You definitely have to have your own motivation,” O’Dea said of putting together these youth teams. “It’s tough competition, but most of the girls I try out with have been my best finds over the last five or six years and are very close friends. We see each other all the time at tournaments. Competitiveness and motivation are the most important thing.”
O’Dea added that she found it easier to get through these tryouts because this is not her first trip with the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team. She has also played in New Zealand, Hungary and Slovakia.
“I look at my past experiences and my international travels and see the different styles of water polo around the world,” she said. “I take the experiences from those trips and apply them to the difficult games I play.”
“She’s been in the game for so long,” said Barry O’Dea, her father and coach at Wilson. “She’s just kind of ingrained in it. There are just things she’s learning about it that could give her an advantage.”
Her comprehensive skills helped O’Dea lead the USA to second place at the 2024 Pythia Cup against Israel, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands and Hungary.
“I love traveling,” O’Dea said. “I love walking around the cities and trying different foods… Now that I’m going to China (for the World Championships), I can go somewhere and do a sport I know in a country I know.”
Her mother Sandy Liu O’Dea’s parents are from China and the family has also vacationed there. The travel bug was sparked when coach O’Dea persuaded his boys’ water polo team from Corona Del Mar to go to a summer competition in New Zealand.
O’Dea said she loves it when her family travels with her to international competitions, but sometimes she feels left out.
“I get super jealous when I see my sister (Maya) at the beach,” O’Dea said. “She’s relaxing in her swimsuit and I’m working out in my swimsuit and getting scratched. But it’s definitely worth it.”
Last week, O’Dea also led her Long Beach Aquatics Federation club team to a fifth-place finish at the Girls U18 Junior Olympics.
