Seattle, WA -- Meet Kelly McGuire (#18). Kelly joins us as a freshman at UW and currently plays at the driver position where she is also a tremendous addition on defense.
She joins the program from Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, California which is a long ways away from Seattle. She continues to impress the coaches as she is one of the hardest working players in the pool and improves with each practice.
"It can be a little intimidating for freshmen coming in here for the first time," says Head Coach, Rudy Ramirez. "Big school, away from home, everything's new to them. But not Kelly. She jumped in feet first no hesitation and has been going hard every day since day 1, way back in October."
Kelly's breakout game this season came against Portland State as the Viking hosted the first Northwest Divsion Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) tournament. In the game, she had 2 steals, 2 ejections earned and 3 shots in a 13-5 route by the Huskies.
"What a kind and joyful person to know," were the words of co-captain Lizzy Lipps when asked to describe Kelly. "She's[Kelly] not only all smiles but can also put on a game face for polo. I'm so glad to have the privilege of playing with her and glad she joined the program."
Kelly first started playing water polo sophomore year of high school because her swim coach told her to because she was also the water polo coach and in need of sprinters.
In Kelly's words, "I figured why not and saw it as swimming with a purpose. I ended up really enjoying the girls on my high school team and so that's why I continued to play."
When you ask Kelly what she likes so much about the club program here at UW, she says, "It's everyone's genuine love and commitment to the sport, especially the coaches who dedicate their time for free to help us."
It also doesn't hurt that she's really enjoying her time at UW. Outside of water polo, Kelly loves the wide variety of things to do in Seattle such as going dowtown on the weekends, taking a ferry to an island, or heading to the mountains 55 minutes away for hiking/skiing.
Kelly will be back at it again this weekend, as the Huskies prepare for their second CWPA tournament this weekend in Corvallis, Oregon at the Osborn Aquatic Center, March 5-6th. You can see the full UW Schedule here.
When Kelly's not in the pool, she enjoys going to the beach and paddle boarding, and pretty much anything that has to do with water and outdoors. A no brainer when you're from San Diego, California. Speaking of back home, she's probably really craving an Acai bowl from Swamis Cafe right now.
-- Little known fact about Kelly, when she was 7 years old, she and her dog Puddy won a Best in Show award in her first dog show ever.