Sydney's Silver Lining

The Road to Sydney One hundred years after water polo became the first team sport in the Olympics, women's water polo made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Read the history of the United States women's National Team, and the battle to compete on the Olympic stage. A Team Like No Other Led by head coach Guy Baker, thirteen women brought their talents together to rise from underdogs to contenders for Olympic gold. Their individual stories, and the story of the first women's Olympic water polo team, will surprise and inspire Olympic enthusiasts.

When women’s water polo was added to the program for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, there was a real danger the United States, one of the pioneering nations in the sport, would miss the cut for the inaugural event. Down to its final chance to qualify for Sydney, the underdog Americans beat the odds to crash the Olympic field. And they weren’t finished. To win an Olympic medal, the United States women would have to turn the tables on a bitter rival and topple a giant. To accomplish these feats and achieve Olympic glory, they would need to form and rely on an impenetrable circle of strength. One hundred years after men’s water polo became the first Olympic team sport, the women made it the newest one in Sydney. Sydney’s Silver Lining covers the fight for the long-overdue acceptance of women’s water polo on the grandest stage in sports, and the personal battles each team member overcame to become a part of history. Sydney’s Silver Lining will surprise and inspire both long-time water polo enthusiasts and casual fans discovering the sport for the first time -- the same way the American and Australian women captivated a record-setting audience when they battled for gold at the Sydney Olympics.

Kyle Utsumi has spent more than 30 years involved in water polo as an athlete, journalist, and coach. He has been coaching with the Stanford Water Polo Club since 1994. Utsumi served as head coach of the Youth National Team from 2001-2003 and the Junior National team from 2004-2009. Currently, Utsumi is an assistant coach with the Stanford University women, helping the team capture NCAA titles in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Utsumi's fascination with the Olympic Games began in 1984 when the 11-year-old Orange County native attended the Olympic swimming and water polo competitions at USC and Pepperdine. He worked as a journalist for water polo in Atlanta and Sydney and served on the USA Women's Water Polo staff at the Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing. Utsumi was in attendance when the USA women won gold in London in 2012.