Harvard Women's Water Polo arrived in Greece last weekend for a pre-season training trip just before they get underway this season. Throughout its trip, the Crimson student-athletes will add to this blog as they recount their experiences throughout the trip.  For full coverage of the trip to Greece, head over to @harvardwopo on Instagram. 

BLOG POST 1: Erin Kim 
Greetings from Greece! I'm Erin Kim, a junior and co-captain of the women's team, and I'm starting off our blog posts with a couple days of our trip behind us. This Wednesday, January 10th, marked our first full day in Greece, after a full day of travel.
 
We started off the trip with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, where a handful of us got to eat a highly anticipated German classic, the Frankfurter, for a midnight snack / 6 am breakfast. It's a good thing our internal clocks were confused after the flight!
 
We're currently staying in Glyfada, which is a short drive south of Athens. Our hotel sits on beautiful Glyfada Beach, and everyone is taking advantage of the 2 minute walk to the shore. We've spent much of our down time exploring the beach, sunset watching, and taking in the incredible views.
 
After catching up on a much needed sleep, we hit the ground running on our first full day, with two training sessions in two amazing aquatics facilities. Our morning session was at the Panionios pool, where we had gym and pool time, and our night session was a scrimmage with the Greek National U19 women's team in Piraeus. It was a great opportunity to train at a high level, be challenged, and grow together as a team. The experience of playing the sport we love in this amazing country has been fascinating so far, and we expect to learn a ton from the talented teams we're matching up against throughout our trip.
 
Aside from all our activities, we've been enjoying the Greek cuisine! Some of our favorites have been the Feta cheese, yogurt, and pastries like Spanakopita and Portokalópita. I've been especially looking forward to trying authentic dolmades, a Greek staple that I'll be on the hunt for!
 
In just our first few days, we have shared many laughs and made lasting memories. The team is looking forward to visiting the Acropolis and catching up on our Greek history! We all feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in such a beautifully historical place, and would love to thank every member of the Friends of Harvard Water Polo for making this visit a reality. Tune in to our Instagram (@harvardwopo) to follow along on the rest of our trip!

BLOG POST 2: Ella Prentice, Serafina Cortez, Josie Mobley, and Maya O'Dea
Yassou from Greece!
 
This blog comes from rooms 404 and 405 in our lovely hotel (Ella Prentice, Serafina Cortez, Josie Mobley, and Maya O'Dea). We were fortunate enough to enjoy another gorgeous day in Athens, which provided a much-needed escape from the snowy streets of Cambridge.
 
We had a lovely wake-up this morning at 8 am with fresh Greek yogurt, fruit, pastries, and too much Nutella. After breakfast, we headed off to our first sightseeing excursion of the trip, a short bus ride to the Acropolis, one of the ancient wonders of the world. We were lucky enough to secure VIP tickets to the beautiful Acropolis Museum, where we started our tour. There, led by our tour guide Dee, we learned about this great city's history (Shoutout to our teammate Kaity Greenwald for being a second tour guide with all her Anthropology knowledge!). Learning about artifacts and history from over 3,000 years ago was incredible. 
 
Our tour guide had many exciting stories about Ancient Greece and the incredible works of art in the museum. One that stood out to us was the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. She told us Nike was always depicted with wings because victory is fleeting and can fly away quickly, reminding us to remain humble and hungry, an essential message for us to take into our upcoming season.
 
After the museum, we made our way up to the Acropolis, where we saw the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the temple of Nike. We also saw where the first olive tree was grown (such a good gift from Athena to the people of Greece they named the city Athens). We all got some cool pictures, which we're happy to share with you. 
 
While waiting for the bus, we were given some shopping time and decided to explore the nearby neighborhoods. The stunning architecture left us in awe, and we couldn't resist the temptation to indulge in some delicious coffee, macaroons, and baklava.
 
We are back in the hotel now, resting and recharging before our second scrimmage against the Greek U19 National team tonight. Playing against such great competition is helping us grow as a team and prepare for the upcoming season. 
Many of us have made it a goal to watch the sunset every night before heading out for our evening training sessions, which have been breathtaking. 
 
We are so thankful for this experience and want to express our gratitude to The Friends of Harvard Water Polo and our parents for helping fund and organize this trip. Everything from the delicious meals to the beautiful sunsets (which many of us have made a goal to watch every night) has been amazing. We feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity and will cherish these memories for years to come.
 
Thanks for following along!
 
Ella Prentice '24, Josie Mobley '24, Serafina Cortez '27, and Maya O'Dea '27.


BLOG POST 3: Annabelle Bisconti 

Reporting live from day five of Harvard Women's Water Polo in Greece! Today we enjoyed a nice sleep-in morning for a 9am breakfast in the hotel and then headed straight to the pool for our first training of the day. We trained for two hours with the Alimos Water Polo Club, which was a great opportunity for us to play with high level athletes and prepare for our official scrimmage later that night. At the end of training we gifted the Alimos team Harvard Water Polo pins as a thank you for their welcoming and competitive attitudes.

        After a delicious hotel lunch and an afternoon filled with card games, shopping, and nap time, we headed back over to the pool for this season's first official scrimmage. This scrimmage was our third meeting with the U19 Greek National Team, with whom we trained the two days prior. The game was well fought against tough competition, and we learned a lot during our first official chance to play together as a team. 

        When the game was over, we hopped back on the bus and headed to our first dinner out in Athens with local Harvard alumni. We had an incredible family-style meal including salad, tzatziki, fried halloumi, an assortment of meats, and best of all: quality time with Harvard family. We are so appreciative for the abundant network of incredible people that Harvard provides us and we were lucky to have been able to spend time with them abroad! 

        The girls were in search of a sweet treat on the walk back to the bus after dinner, but unfortunately all local shops were closed by the time we left; we settled for some candy and snacks back at the hotel and wound down to prepare for some fun activities the following day!

BLOG POST 4: Sutchie Ofori-Nyako and Sasha Constandse 
Hello HWP Family!
 
Today (January 13th) the team started the day off by visiting the 2004 Olympic campus in Athens. We were able to see seven of the fifteen pools in the Olympic village, including the competition pool. Then, we saw Agora, where the athletes would gather before their events. We were able to see how the campus is currently being used for sports clubs and the public. It was an incredible experience being able to walk around and explore the historical location.
 
After walking around the campus, we went to the Olympic Museum. We started by learning about the origins of the Olympic games, and how it ties into the worshiping of the Greek Gods. We were able to see the progression of sports as well as the expansion of the games from within Greece to all over the world. There were many videos and stories that allowed us to be immersed in the history of the Olympics. Being able to witness the determination of all the athletes that participate in the games was inspiring. It was an amazing opportunity that we will never forget. 
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After visiting the 2004 Athens Olympic Stadium and Museum, we spent a short time at the Golden Hall Shopping Center located next to the museum, before heading back to our hotel to have lunch. Later in the afternoon, we headed to a pool a couple minutes away from the hotel to train with the U16 Greek National Team. It was a great opportunity to play another team with such a different playing style to what we are used to in the States, and we had the chance to work more on our regular frontcourt and our 6 on 5/5 on 6. 
 
Following our scrimmage with the U16s, we returned to the hotel and rested a bit before meeting with a couple members of the Greek Olympiacos Athletic club. Olympiacos is a sports organization housing multiple different teams including a world-renowned soccer team, basketball teams and of course, water polo teams. Many of Olympiacos' athletes are currently on the Greek senior national team. After having the opportunity to speak with the club, we headed off to dinner at Crazy Donkey with Luka Babic '12, Coach Ted's first captain. I (Sasha) got to spend a lot of time talking with him, bonding over our shared interest in psychology. Luka treated the entire team to gelato after dinner, which was a big hit with everyone. We returned to the hotel to unwind and get rest for an exciting day tomorrow.
 
We would like to extend another thank you to everyone who made this trip possible—the Friends of Harvard Water Polo, our families, friends and supporters, and coaches. We deeply appreciate the opportunity to be here and to have the experience of a lifetime with this amazing team and staff. Thank you.
 
With gratitude,
Sasha Constandse '24 & Sutchie Ofori-Nyako '26