Former Hollister water polo standout Britta Nordstrom is taking
the hard knocks in stride
The first time Hollister’s Britta Nordstrom broke her nose was
the result of a ball hitting her square in the face. The second
time was the result of a flying elbow.
And those were just practices.
Former Hollister water polo standout Britta Nordstrom is taking the hard knocks in stride
The first time Hollister’s Britta Nordstrom broke her nose was the result of a ball hitting her square in the face. The second time was the result of a flying elbow.
And those were just practices.
Clearly it’s not an easy job playing two-meter defender on the University of California, San Diego’s water polo team but someone had to do it.
“For a while my teammates kept telling me I was Owen Wilson (movie actor),” said the 21-year-old Nordstrom, who made light of how her nose looked at the time. “The first time was a minor break and the second time was worse. The doctors got the cartilage to pop back out though.”
Despite the setbacks, Nordstrom was still recognized as one of the best water polo players in the nation.
The former Haybaler from San Benito High was recently named All-American for her defensive prowess on the Tritons team – the top ranked NCAA Division II team in the country.
“We were very excited and very surprised when we learned she made All-American,” said Britta’s mom Ruth Nordstrom. “She worked real hard and had a very trying year, so it was really nice.”
Nordstrom drew the attention of coaches and gained recognition for her explosive speed in the pool and ability to block shots and breakup plays.
“I’m very long and my length gives me a huge advantage,” said Nordstrom, who stands 6-foot-1. “I have a large wing span. The way I play kind of makes the other person think that they’re going to have it easy but they don’t. I’m more of a finesse player but I can play physical too.”
The youngest in a family of outstanding swimmers and water polo players, Nordstrom is not the first All-American from the family. Her brother Lars, who graduated from San Benito High in 2001, was a four-time All-American swimmer who swam at the University of the Pacific and Brigham Young University-Hawaii before finishing out his college career at UCSD.
Her brother Bjorn, who graduated from San Benito High in 1995, went on to play water polo at the University of Southern California where he was a member of the school’s national championship team.
Her other brother Leif (Class of 2002) was also an accomplished swimmer and coached the boys swim team at San Benito High for three years. Her sister Kirstin also swam in high school and in junior college.
Britta first learned to swim in the family’s backyard pool when she was 4 and was already competing by the time she was 5.
By the time she was 9, Nordstrom was ranked in the top 10 in the nation in the breaststroke.
Eventually she had to stop competing in that event after learning from her doctor that she was growing too fast, which forced her to shift her focus to freestyle.
“The breaststroke really focuses on the hamstring and made mine really tight since I was growing so fast,” said Nordstrom, who graduated from San Benito High in 2003. “I was told I couldn’t do it anymore.”
In high school she swam all of the freestyle events. Her favorite was the 200 free.
“I liked it because it’s in between, not exactly a sprint or a long distance,” Nordstrom said. “You have to hold a fast pace for eight laps.”
By the time she was a senior, Nordstrom had become the league champion in the 50 free and won the league title in the 200 that year by a whopping 10 seconds.
That year she also finished in the top 10 at CCS in the 100 free.
Although she was a top swimmer, Nordstrom got more enjoyment out of playing water polo a few years before high school.
“I started going to clinics when I was 12,” she said. “But I wasn’t able to start playing on a team until my freshman year.”
From day one, water polo enticed her much more than swimming.
“I love swimming because it keeps you in shape,” Nordstrom said. “But I had been swimming for so long that by the time water polo came around it was new and exciting to me.”
She started playing the two-meter defender position her freshman year and has never played anything else since. The demanding position comes with the difficult assignment of shutting down the opposition’s top scoring threat. She thrived in the role and relished the challenge.
Her freshman year she played on the Balers JV team. By her sophomore season, former varsity coach Derek Kisling called Nordstrom up to his squad, where she made the league’s Second Team All-League list and was named the team’s top defender.
By the time her junior year rolled around Nordstrom was really making a name for herself at the high school level. That year she made the prestigious First Team All-League squad as well as the honorable mention list for all players in the Central Coast Section, and was named the team MVP of the Balers.
The following year she repeated the honors again.
“Coming out of high school I was recruited by San Diego State and Florida Atlantic,” Nordstrom said.
She chose UCSD for its strong academics. Currently she is studying human development and may become a speech therapist or go on to medical school – another family tradition – after she graduates from the picturesque university located on the cliffs in La Jolla.
Although she is one of the top players in the country, Nordstrom has no aspirations of playing beyond her college years.
“I’m not going to make a future of it,” she said. “I’ve been playing for nine years now and with all of the injuries I’ve had it’s really taken its toll on me. I could see myself coaching, but not really playing after college.”
