Team USA's women's water polo squad is looking for its third straight gold medal at the Olympics. If they finish on top in Tokyo, they'll be the first women's water polo team in history to three-peat.
Head coach Adam Krikorian and team captain Maggie Steffens – both from the Bay Area – will lead the powerhouse in Tokyo.
"To see a group of women like this that are so hungry to be the best even though they've been the best for as long as they have, I mean, you talk about sustained excellence," Krikorian said. "And that's where it starts, that competitive drive and that hunger to get better no matter how good you are."
Winning a third gold medal in a row will be a challenge.
"I think we've lost a little momentum and we've lost a little bit of our mojo," Krikorian said. "If you can imagine a team full of really competitive women that are trying to achieve this goal and then for 14 months they've essentially been just training together and beating each other up, it gets old pretty quick."
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Only two men's water polo teams – Great Britain and Hungary – have won three straight gold medals.
"We would love for that to happen not just because we love to win, but because we love to have an impact on society," Krikorian said. "We'd love to have an impact on our sport, about women and sport."
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Are the Americans feeling the pressure?
"There's always pressure," Steffens said. "It wouldn't be a sport if there wasn't pressure. And, you know, I always bring up Billie Jean King saying that pressure is a privilege. If you feel that pressure, it means you've done something right. It means you've earned it. So, now what are you going to do with it?"
