Real life can wait; Ann Arbor native Betsey Armstrong lives at the pool
By now, you'd think Betsey Armstrong would get her life on track. Since graduating from the University of Michigan in 2005, though, all she's done is hang out by the pool.
“I have a lot of friends who just graduated from college and are moving onto grad school or jobs,” she said. “Those are noble pursuits, and I’m after them myself."
If Armstrong is chasing after such things, though, she's hardly in a hurry.
The 26-year-old Ann Arbor native has spent the past three years touring the world, including last summer's Beijing Olympics, where she won a silver medal, playing goalkeeper for the United States national water polo team and blogged about her experience for the New York Times.
A Huron High School graduate, Armstrong was a four-time All American for Michigan and earned induction into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame last year.
"I feel really lucky to play the sport I love and have that be my job," Armstrong said.
Make that lucky, and good.
Last week, Armstrong led the U.S. to its third championship this decade at the FINA World Championships in Rome. She made 11 saves Friday against Canada, including a late-game stop on Canada’s final trip down, preserving the win, 7-6, and a gold medal for her team.
Armstrong also made a last-second save, her 14th, in an 8-7 semifinal win against Greece, and overall stopped 67 of 119 shots in the tournament.
“All the games were really close,” Armstrong said. “Typically, you’ll find in the major championships, all the teams are pretty close, so you’re never gonna have an easy ride in the tournament.”
With three years of experience on the national team, Armstrong said she’s starting to get used to high-pressure games.
“I can see myself growing,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I have the same kinds of nerves I had in the beginning. You know it’s always a battle at this level. It’s so close, as you saw in this tournament alone, so there’s always all sorts of pressure you battle and you have more ways of coping with it.”
Following the World Championships, Armstrong will take some time off from water polo before returning next month. There will be plenty of training and tournaments in the months that follow, but her vision is set on the next Summer Games.
“I think 2012 is definitely a goal of mine, to make it to London,” she said. “With this team, you sort of have to take it one year at a time and keep developing as an athlete, and I’m hoping to do that. But my long-term goal is 2012.”