By Hawaii water polo coach Maureen Cole’s estimation, Rainbow Wahine sophomore Claire Nixon can deliver one of the hardest shots in the nation.
It was about a year ago when Nixon absorbed a devastating blow to her aspirations in the sport.
Nixon was among the final cuts as Great Britain assembled its roster for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. At the time, it appeared to be a dream delayed as she set her sights on Rio in 2016. But those hopes were virtually destroyed last spring when UK Sport announced it was withdrawing funding for women’s water polo among other sports.
"I was only 18, and people were like ‘you can make the next one,’ and that kind of kept me going," Nixon said of missing the London Games. "But then losing the funding … there’s no way we can get the funding back and be going to Rio."
So Nixon — the first female British player to compete in U.S. college water polo — knows something about resilience.
It was a big-picture lesson condensed to the scale of a single match last week in a performance that earned Nixon Big West Player of the Week honors on Wednesday.
Nixon picked up two early fouls against UC Davis and spent much of the match on the pool deck. When Cole sent her back into the water, Nixon fired the tying and go-ahead goals in the second overtime to lift the Wahine to a 10-9 win.
"It was huge for the team and it was a huge breakthrough for Claire," Cole said.
"For a lot of players, when you’re sitting on the side it’s easy to get selfish and pout a little bit or get upset and lose focus and not be ready to go. But she went in in overtime and came up with some huge goals."
The seventh-ranked Rainbow Wahine (10-5) take a three-game winning streak into a seven-game homestand starting with a matchup against No. 3 USC on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
UH will also face Pomona on Saturday and the Brazilian national team at noon on Sunday, with top-ranked UCLA set to visit on March 27.
Part of an international roster with seven countries represented, Nixon enters the homestand third on the team with 19 goals, complementing the production of Australia’s Chloe Barr (30 goals) and Spain’s Paula Chillida Esforzado (20). She faced both in international competitions before they united at UH and it was at the Junior World Championships that Nixon first connected with Cole.
In scouting Nixon, Cole saw an explosive player with the leg strength to root opposing centers out of position and elevate out of the water to power shots into the net.
"She comes up to her thighs when she shoots the ball, that just helps her get some zing on the ball," Cole said. "When she hits a goal it’s usually a really beautiful goal because of that way she looks in the water and how hard she can shoot the ball."
In turn, Hawaii’s allure and the program’s history of producing world-class players attracted Nixon to Manoa. She set foot on U.S. soil for the first time when she landed at Honolulu International Airport in January 2014. Without the benefit of training with the team in the fall, Nixon scored 24 goals while appearing in all 29 matches.
Her freshman season included hat tricks against Long Beach State and Indiana shortly after the announcement that the British national team’s funding had been eliminated.
"I just wanted to prove water polo is not dead and there’s other branches in the world English players can go to and really just prove I am worth something and British water polo is worth something," said Nixon, who could be a trendsetter for British players looking to pursue playing in the U.S.
Although the Olympics appear out of reach, Nixon has channeled her focus into her career with the Rainbow Wahine with a heightened appreciation for the opportunity to play.
"For me, playing in Hawaii is the main benefit," Nixon said. "I can look at other people in the same situation where my national team is gone, but at least I have Hawaii. … I’m so proud to play for Hawaii."
