Santa Barbara High alum Kami Craig will be playing in her second Olympic Games.
Craig was one of 13 athletes selected this week to the U.S. women’s water polo team for this summer’s London Olympics. She was a member of the 2008 team in Beijing, China that captured a silver medal.
Craig joins defending beach volleyball gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser as local athletes on the U.S. Olympic Team.
The U.S. women’s water squad has seven returners from the 2008 team and eight athletes overall with Olympic Games experience.
The 5-11 Craig plays center for Team USA. She was the second leading scorer on the team with 12 goals at the 2011 Pan American Games, where the U.S. won the gold medal and qualified for the London Olympics. She tallied four goals during the team’s gold medal run at the 2011 FINA World League Super Final in Tianjin, China, and scored seven when the Americans won the FINA World Cup in 2010.
Craig has been playing international water polo since 2004. She started on the Junior National Team and won a gold medal at the 2004 Pan-Am Junior Championships.
At Santa Barbara High, she led the Dons to CIF titles her junior and senior years (2004-2005). She was CIF MVP and first-team All-American as a senior. She still holds the school record for goals in a season with 123.
She moved on to USC, where she twice won the Peter J. Cutino Award as college game’s best player. She graduated from USC with a degree in sociology.
Craig’s selection makes it three straight Olympics that a Santa Barbara player has been on the U.S. women’s water polo team. Thalia Munro was the first in the 2004 Games. She won a bronze medal.
The U.S. will open competition at the London Olympics against Hungary on July 30. That will be followed by a match against Spain on Aug. 1, and China on Aug. 3, to close out preliminary play in Group A. The quarterfinals are set for Aug. 5, followed by the semifinals on Aug. 7, and the medal final on Aug. 9.
