The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.
Photo by Zac Hudson, World Aquatics
It’s been a golden summer for the red, white, and blue.
The USA women’s water polo team has claimed the gold medal at the 2026 World Aquatics World Cup Tournament thanks to a 13-9 victory over Spain in the championship game last weekend.
Most of the American team lives in Long Beach and the team trains at LBCC’s new aquatics facility, continuing the decades-long history between Long Beach and its adopted Olympic team. Other than the team-wide local ties, longtime American star Rachel Fattal grew up in nearby Seal Beach and attended Los Al High, and longtime assistant coach Chris Oeding is the LBCC water polo coach.
The tournament took place in Australia, where the USA women continued their excellent 2026 (they’re 14-2 in the calendar year with a two-goal loss to Spain in group play and a shootout loss to Hungary). They ripped through the World Cup knockout rounds beating China 14-8 in the quarters, host Australia 10-6 in the semis, and then the 13-9 win over Spain for the gold.
Emily Ausmus was the top scorer for the Americans with a game-high six goals, while goalie Amanda Longan had 13 saves.
The game started slow before a later first-quarter spurt by Team USA, which went up 4-1 before a couple of Spain goals tightened the scores. Spain ended up pulling even in the second quarter, but Ausmus would complete a first-half hat trick to give the United States a 7-5 lead at the break.
Spain once again pulled within a goal early in the third before another pair of Ausmus goals ended up putting the Americans up 11-9 going into the fourth quarter–they used smothering defense in the final frame to keep control of the game while adding in a pair of insurance goals.
The World Cup gold helps the American women re-establish their footing after a disappointing 2024 Olympics, where they failed to medal for the first time since women’s water polo was added to the Olympics in 2000. The Americans had won the previous three gold medals before finishing fourth in Paris. They also failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals last year after a run of several gold medals.
Youth National Team
Meanwhile the USA Youth National Team on the women’s side (formally referred to as the USA Cadet Team) wrapped up an undefeated World Cup group play schedule just before print deadline, with semifinals and potentially championship play to take place later this week.
The USA Youth National Team features a pair of Wilson stars in Abby and Claire Billish, both of whom have been big contributors this week.
The Americans beat Peru 20-0 to open play, then defeated Canada 13-7 behind five goals from Abby Billish, who also led the team with four goals in a 16-1 win over Romania, with Claire chipping in one. Team USA wrapped a perfect group play run with a 6-4 win over Italy Tuesday morning.
The semifinals and finals at the World Cup in Zagreb, Croatia will take place Thursday and Friday.
