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Olympic trio Natalie Golda (left), Thalia Munro and Kelly Rulon lead the No. 1 UCLA water polo te

Dumbfounded, then flustered, and finally frustrated.

Those were the emotions that passed through each and every one of the players on the 2004 U.S. women’s water polo Olympic team which won the bronze medal.

But third place was nowhere near good enough for a team heavily favored to claim the gold.

With just 30 seconds remaining in its semifinal game against Italy, Team USA had possession of the ball.

Then a whistle blew.

Team USA looked around befuddled, not knowing that the referee had just whistled an offensive call on one of its players. Moments later, Italy scored and ruined Team USA’s gold medal aspirations.

While the referee’s license was taken away following the Olympics because of questionable calls, it didn’t change things for Natalie Golda, Thalia Munro and Kelly Rulon, three current Bruins who played on that team.

“Disappointing,” Rulon said. “It was a total heartbreaker. It would have been one thing if we lost fair and square. It was a really confusing last minute of the game.”

“To work that hard and to lose the way we did, I will never forget,” Munro said. “It still hurts.”

The trio constantly thinks about the what-ifs and what it could have done differently. Despite the ill-fortunes that transpired during that match, however, these Olympians have come back to UCLA to forge what many have considered the most dominant team ever assembled in collegiate women’s water polo.

Gold medal by the wayside and bronze medal in hand, the three Bruin Olympians have just one thing in mind when they open the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament today against Cal State Northridge – an NCAA Championship.

And while the trio is of one mindset heading into the postseason, each Bruin has taken a unique road back from the Olympics to get there.

Golda’s path

Golda described her experience at the Olympics as quite possibly one of the most memorable and life-changing times of her life.

When she returned to UCLA and began fall quarter this year, however, she just didn’t have the drive to play.

At one point all the senior wanted to do was swim. Other times, she just wanted to lift weights. But each activity had something in common: It was always something other than water polo.

“It was like water polo, water polo, water polo all the time,” the center forward said. “It was pretty hard to stay motivated for the season, to feel intense about the games, to want to go to practice. I just didn’t want to get the balls out at all.”

Dubbed the “Olympic hangover,” many players who participate in the Games oftentimes experience a two-week moment of ecstasy during competition before crumbling back to reality when they return.

“The Olympics is a big part of your life and then it’s just over and we kind of felt like we went straight from the Olympics back to school,” Golda said. “You put all of your effort, your mind, body and spirit to prepare for this experience and then there’s a certain sense of relief when it’s over and then a sense of, ‘What do I do now?’”

It took her a while to figure that out. But with the playoffs looming, that answer is becoming more obvious for the team captain. She realizes that despite the Bruins’ undefeated season, there is still unfinished business.

“Yeah, we’re undefeated in the regular season, but we haven’t won the final game yet,” Golda said. “We haven’t even gotten there yet. We have to win to prove that we’re the best team in the country and until we do that, it’s all a bunch of talk.”

Munro’s march

Coming back to UCLA was something Munro struggled with most.

After appearing on The Today Show and the cover of Sports Illustrated on Campus, everyone recognized her face.

Yet even though she was well-known, Munro was the one who felt like a stranger.

As a freshman in 2001, she won the NCAA title with since-departed Bruins Coralie Simmons, Jamie Hipp and Robin Beauregard.

Aside from Golda, not a single player from her previous UCLA squad is still playing.

For Munro, coming back to UCLA after a two-year hiatus while training with the U.S. National Team was an extremely challenging endeavor.

“The adjustment was very hard for me to leave and equally as difficult coming back,” Munro said. “The weirdest thing is that I’ve been the youngest member of every team I’ve been a part of until this year.”

UCLA coach Adam Krikorian expressed how difficult it has been for Munro to come back.

“All the eyes are suddenly on her because of what she’s done over the past two years,” Krikorian said. “She’s come into a role where it is completely different. She left as a follower and now automatically becomes a leader, but Thalia has been able to fill that role.”

It’s taken Munro more than half the season to get situated, but she has reiterated that the transition has been easier because of UCLA’s environment.

“The one thing that never ceases to end in the UCLA program and why I think it is so successful is because we recruit such amazing people,” she said. “I feel now as I did before – completely lucky to have been in the situation that I was in to take time off and come back to an extended family.”

Rising Rulon

The youngest of the three Olympians on this year’s roster, Rulon has a reserved nature, yet still possesses a lethal demeanor in the pool.

In her first season two years ago, the 20-year-old out of Point Loma, Calif., was second on the team in scoring during the Bruins’ 2003 NCAA Championship run.

After returning to the Bruins, just less than one year removed, Rulon has made her presence felt even more this season.

Rulon is leading the Bruins in three of the four possible statistical categories this season, nearly doubling her numbers from her freshman campaign.

Although she credits her Olympic experience for giving her confidence and tenacity, deciding to even try out for the Olympic team was never clear cut, especially after realizing what she would have to sacrifice. Rulon left school in middle of fall quarter in 2003 in hopes of earning a spot, even though her spot on the roster was far from guaranteed.

“I was really hesitant to leave,” Rulon said. “I was having a good time at school. It was a good setup and taking six months off of school in a redshirt year, with no sureness you’re going to make the team was hard.”

Despite hearing the stories of how demanding and rigorous the workouts would be, Rulon elected to give it a shot. She impressed former UCLA coach and current Team USA men’s water polo coach Guy Baker and earned a spot on the Olympic roster at the beginning of the following year.

Making the team was arguably one of the easier tasks Rulon faced. Training for it was the hard part.

“Water polo from January to August was my job and my life for seven, eight months,” Rulon said. “You had to work your ass off till you were tired and then you would still be training.”

Validation

Even though each of the players left under different circumstances and have returned to unfamiliar environments and emotions, Golda, Munro and Rulon have been able to adapt.

“They are all in different phases in their lives and athletic careers, and at the same time they’ve joined together to come back to school here to help us win a championship,” Krikorian said. “All three of them have a burning desire to win a championship.”

And because of their play the Bruins boast an undefeated record (27-0, 12-0 MPSF) and have been ranked No. 1 for exactly three months.

Six games remain in UCLA’s path to the NCAA title and each of the three Olympians understands what it takes to get to the next level. Each has been a member of a championship team, but the most recent memory was their third-place finish in Athens, Greece.

Just 16 days remain for them to gain a sense of vindication, another chance to be champions.

But when it comes down to it, winning the NCAA Championship isn’t nearly the same as winning gold.

Yet for three Olympians, it’s nonetheless one step in the right direction.

“It doesn’t replace it, but I feel I would have some closure with that whole situation,” Golda said. “I feel like all three of us came back and we helped our team finish something we kind of started already.”