Quinn Woodhead, Dylan, Chase, and Ryder Dodd are vying for slots on the men's water polo Olympic squad.
With so many skilled players on the women's water polo team, Ella Woodhead is fighting for a berth.
On June 18th, the men's team and on May 30th, the women's team will be revealed.
Jostling for a berth on the men's team are Chase and Ryder Dodd, along with Dylan and Quinn Woodhead. Meantime, Ella Woodhead is fighting for a position on the women's team, which is already overcrowded.
Women's team is likely to be announced on May 30, while the men's team will be announced on June 18.
Chase Dodd started swimming in Walnut, California, when he was a small child. He got crazily hooked on water polo when he took his first ball in the water. Ryder Dodd jumped at the chance to go into the same field as his older brother to be a professional.
"When I was around 6 years old, my mom was just like, 'You want to hop in and play?'" Ryder Dodd contributed his thoughts. "And I was like, 'Yeah, of course I do.'"
This marked the start of the Dodds' journey to the US Water Polo World Championships and potentially the Paris Olympic Games this summer. Ella Woodhead, Quinn, and Dylan all narrate essentially the same stories.
The teams representing the United States in water polo at this year's Olympics might have a deeper bond than just a passion for their difficult sport. There is competition among Chase and Ryder Dodd, Dylan and Quinn Woodhead, and Ella Woodhead for spots on the men's team. With so many great players on the women's team currently, Ella Woodhead is a strong candidate as well.
The women's team is expected to be revealed on May 30, while the men's team will be revealed on June 18.
The American men's national team captain, Ben Hallock, said, "It's intriguing, just watching the fraternal interaction," alluding to the unique qualities that set the two teams apart from one another. Because of this, it's interesting to see the traits that make them exceptional as well as how they quarrel and compete with one another.
An invaluable link.
Standing six feet seven inches and turning twenty-five in September, Dylan Woodhead is a defender who made his Olympic debut when the United States placed sixth in Tokyo. Quinn, a 6-4 striker, will age 24 the following month, while Ella, a 5-10 defender, will turn 20.
"It's just special to have my brother here, who I grew up playing with pretty much my whole career," Dylan Woodhead said in the statement. It's just that you're more at ease with certain folks than others. My sister and I are going through the same thing. Playing with Quinn and working through issues with Ella give you practice being honest and straightforward, two things that are essential in your area of work.
The Woodhead family siblings hail from Northern California. Their father Jeff rowed at California, their mother Laura swam at Stanford. The parents were active in athletics. Quinn and Dylan mostly helped the Cardinals win the 2019 NCAA title game while Ella, who redshirted this season, heads back to Stanford to try out for the US team.
The Big Game, the annual college football game between Stanford and California, was an event the siblings had looked forward to every year in their growing up. Dylan and his father were Bears fans, but Ella and Quinn, who were pro-mom, were Cardinals fans.
Quinn said, "(Dylan) was the first to make the call to Stanford, so kind of flipped the tide right there."
She smiled. Dylan made a thorough and detailed account of what his father felt about his decision to attend the college.
"I don't know if he ever told me, but my mom said, 'You know, it really hurt him,'" he continued. "I think he's OK with it now; there are worse schools to pick than Stanford in his eyes."
Family cultivates passion with water polo.
The three children, Dylan, Quinn and Ella, progressed in the sport through their mother. They would play water basketball in their backyard pool, and one of the brothers would sometimes lock Ella in a headlock to keep her from scoring. To prevent Ella from scoring, they took this action.
The boys truly "found a really good community that we really enjoyed," as Quinn puts it, when they first started playing water polo. Ella still clearly recalls attending her team's games as a little child.
"I used to watch Dylan and Quinn in the bleachers playing when I was seven or eight years old, that is when I started collecting my own data" said the lady. "I used to write my own statistic chart.” “I think that before I began playing I was fascinated by the strategy part of the game."
The Woodhead siblings cheer each other on and criticize each other as they work on developing their skills in the pool. Quinn works on Ella's shooting as Dylan and Ella discuss defensive play.
The rivalry between Dylan and Quinn is strong, especially when it comes to dealing with each other in the US practice. Chase and Ryder Dodd are Southern Californians who face a situation starkly similar to each other. Attacker Chase Dodd, a 6-3 man who turns 21 this month, scored 39 points for UCLA in 2022 before taking a year off to train with the US squad. Ryder is an eighteen-year-old striker who is regarded as one of the sport's upcoming stars.
"Almost everything that we do is a game," said Chase Dodd, "We have an extremely competitive relationship." "Everything we do is a competition." There is only one rule to this game: "Go, go, go, go." That's probably the best bet I reckon.
Siblings to compete in Paris Olympic Games
There might be family ties within the United States track team. Likely to start as one of the 200 meters favorites is Noah Lyles, and his little brother Josephus is trying to make the U.S. team as a sprinter. Possibly joining them will be invitations to compete for the United States in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively, for Devon Williams and his sister Kendell.
Siblings Karolien and Finn Florijn might make the next tournament in Paris to represent the Netherlands following in the footsteps of their father Ronald Florijn, who won gold medals at the Olympics in Seoul and Atlanta. Two other rowing siblings, Tom and Emily Ford, are vying for medals on behalf of the United Kingdom.
Three Norwegians, Henrik, Filip, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, have indicated that they would like to run the Paris Marathon this summer. Ron Polonsky and his sister, Leah, want to swim in support of Israel.