VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Water Polo Star Maggie Steffens: ‘You’ve Got To Treat Your Body Like a Temple’

U.S. Olympic water polo star Maggie Steffens revealed to uSports exclusively how she prepared herself for competition in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Steffens noted that she begins her routine at 6:30 a.m. with a weights session to prepare her body for conditioning exercises in the water that last roughly two hours. “Nutrition is super important to be your best. You’ve got to treat your body like a temple and respect it,” the Stanford alum told uSports. “I do a lot of physical therapy and athletic training work during that time period to make sure my body is ready.”

Steffens won a gold medal as a U.S. Olympian at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Games.

During the Tokyo Olympics, Steffens set a new record for most goals scored by an individual player in Olympic women’s water polo. Before representing the U.S. in women’s water polo, Steffens led Stanford’s women’s water polo team to three NCAA championships and two second-place finishes; she scored three goals in the Cardinal’s 8-7 victory over UCLA in the championship game in 2017. The Danville, California native led the US to three FINA World Championship titles while getting the opportunity to play alongside her older sister, Jessica Steffens , in the 2012 Summer Games.

Before the Paris games began, Steffens’ sister-in-law, Lulu, passed away at age 26 due to a medical emergency. Steffens remarked that Lulu was an artist and that she “brought 150%” to each venture. Steffens’ husband stayed in Paris to back her bid for a fourth gold medal in women’s water polo.