Stanford's Water Polo Standout Maggie Steffens: Honoring Family with Flavor Flav's Support at the Paris Olympics

Maggie Steffens has always felt she competes for more than just herself and her country. Growing up, she recalls her father telling her every time she left the house to remember her last name.

"I was like, obviously, my last name is Steffens," said the captain of the United States women's water polo team, one of 14 U.S. squads to boast a roster composed entirely of athletes with NCAA connections. "But what I realized is, he was telling me every day you have an opportunity to represent something bigger than yourself, and that carries weight. And I've taken that with me everywhere I go, that concept of remember your last name and do whatever you can to make it proud."

"That's the Steffens name," she continued. 

"That's Stanford," where she was a three-time national champion and a national runner-up from 2013 to 2017.

"That's Team USA," where she has scored the most goals of any woman in Olympic competition and has led her team to three straight gold medals.

Now she is also competing to honor the memory of her sister-in-law, Lulu Conner. Conner died tragically July 23 after suffering a medical emergency in Paris. She was 26 years old. Steffens married Conner's older brother, Bobby Conner, in November, and Lulu had come to Paris with hopes of cheering on Steffens and her team to another Olympic medal.

"She was so excited for the Olympic Games," Steffens told The Associated Press. "We're really close. She's the light of the world. She just brings so much joy to everyone. She always brings people together."

Before coming to Paris, Lulu, an artist and student at UC Davis, had designed a custom clock necklace with her sister-in-law's picture for Flavor Flav. The rapper has been using his celebrity status to champion the U.S. women's water polo team, including raising funds to subsidize the athletes' trips to the Paris Games. 

Five days after Lulu's death, Bobby presented the necklace to Flavor Flav, who shared the video on X.

This past April at the Team USA Media Summit, which coincided with the celebration of 100 days out from the start of the Olympics, Steffens beamed when talking about what it would mean to have her husband experience the Games for the first time.

"I'm really excited for him to be there. He's obviously been such a rock for me and his dream was (to be an Olympian), but he had to medically retire from soccer," she said of the former All-West Coast Conference selection at Saint Mary's (California). "So to watch his wife, somebody that he loves and supports in every way, not only go for her dream, but kind of feel it as well, that makes me really proud. I want him to feel those moments and that energy and know, like I said, how much he means to me and how much he's been wearing the cap with me alongside this process."

Aboard the U.S. boat during the opening ceremony, Steffens took the opportunity to pay  tribute to someone who meant so much to both of them: Lulu. She placed flowers in the River Seine to honor her late sister-in-law.

"It definitely helps to play," Steffens told The Associated Press on how she's coping. "I'm like so out of body in a way right now. And I just keep trying to remind myself what Lulu would want and how she would be, you know, how can I embody her spirit the best. And Lulu was somebody that she gave 150% to everything she did."

Steffens has opened the Paris Games with the same intensity, scoring in all four of Team USA's matches. She started with a two-goal performance in a 15-6 win over Greece and added another goal in a 13-11 upset loss to Spain. She then found the back of the net in both the 10-3 victory over Italy and Friday's 17-5 rout of France, which advanced Team USA to Tuesday's quarterfinal action.

During her first Olympics in 2012, Steffens tied the Olympic record for most goals scored (21) and earned most valuable player honors while playing alongside her older sister, Jessica. In 2016, she once again claimed MVP honors in front of family members, including her father, Carlos, an All-American water polo standout at California. But in Tokyo in 2021, delayed a year due to the global pandemic, Steffens was unable to celebrate another gold medal in front of her family and fans as no spectators were allowed. That made the Paris Games far more meaningful for Steffens, being able to once again compete in front of friends and family, including her husband and sister-in-law.

"Having been here for a long time, your perspective changes, and you're just grateful for all of those names that you've got to represent. And you want to give them your best self," she said. "And that's a big reason why I'm still here, why I'm still trying to grow, and where I get that energy from when I'm on my lowest of days."

And now the recent family tragedy has provided arguably her lowest days yet.  

All she can do is continue to channel that advice she was given when she was younger and represent something bigger than herself, no matter the weight.

For Team USA.

For Stanford.

For Steffens.

For Conner.