This feature originally appeared in the 2024 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
 

Being a student-athlete at Cal inherently comes with a lot of pressure.
 
There's the pressure to compete not only for championships at the highest level of Division I sports, but also in the classrooms of one of the most challenging and prestigious academic universities in the world. There's also the pressure to grow and find oneself outside of the enormous commitments of time and physical and mental effort towards sports and academics.
 
It's a demanding undertaking for anyone, but it's something that's usually made easier by a strong support system – one that understands the daunting, often relentless challenges that come with being a student-athlete while readily lending a hand to ease the burden along the way.
 
In the case of Claire Rowell, her support system understands better than most what her journey has been like through her first three years as a member of the Golden Bear women's water polo team. That's because, in the last three generations of the Rowell family, Claire is the 12th person to don the Cal Blue and Gold.
 
Her mother, Alicia, was an All-American swimmer under Cal head coach Karen Moe. Her father, Buddy, was on the Cal rugby team. Six of her aunts and uncles and both of her grandfathers attended the school. Even her older brother, Robby, was a quarterback on the Cal football team for four years before graduating in 2022.
 
Among Claire's immediate family members, her sister Lexi is the lone exception. That's because Lexi went down her own path to Stanford, where she graduated last spring as a two-time women's water polo national champion.
 
"Sometimes it's kind of hard, especially having two older siblings go play college sports," Claire said. "There's a little bit of pressure. Not from anybody in the family, just on myself to live up to that. But I think it's really rewarding once you get to that spot yourself. I didn't have to go through a lot of what other people did because everybody in my family already knows exactly what I'm going through."
 
Growing up in Lafayette, just a few freeway exits away from UC Berkeley's campus, Claire has never been far from what Alicia calls their "hometown team".
 
"My first memory of Cal is going to football games," Rowell said. "For as long as I can remember, my family's had season tickets to both football and basketball. I had a cheerleading outfit with the matching pom poms and I'd go to every game, every year, in the family section. I think this was always the place, in the back of my mind, that I wanted to go to."
 
Although she had already been swimming since she was 2 years old, Claire didn't get her start in water polo until the age of 9, when she and Lexi – her older sister by two years – joined Diablo Alliance Water Polo club.
 
Playing above her age group with her sister paid dividends for Claire. When she joined Lexi on the girls' water polo team at Acalanes High School, they formed a practically unbeatable duo. With Lexi at center and Claire attacking on the left side, Acalanes won back-to-back North Coast Section championships and the 2019 CIF NorCal Division I championship.
 
The success saw Claire join the 2018 U.S. Cadet National Team and 2019 U.S. Futures Team. It also opened up the door to her becoming a Bear.
 
"I loved that experience. I don't think Lexi and I lost a game for two and a half years," Claire said. "Once I had seen a bunch of girls from my club go to these big D-I schools, that's when I thought I could do it, too. But that was definitely solidified in high school."
 
The path wasn't always easy. When Lexi moved on to join reigning national champion Stanford in 2019, Claire was left to navigate uncharted territory – for the first time in her life, she was playing water polo without her sister.
 
"Because it was always the two of us doing it together, and we were so successful on our high school team, it was hard for me to realize that I'm my own separate person and my own player," Claire said. "Once Lexi committed to Stanford and they won the national championship, there was a lot of comparison between the two of us; whether or not I could go to a school like that and do that, too. That was really hard for me to get past for a while."
 
Claire responded to the challenge. Despite a COVID-affected final two years at Acalanes, she remained focused on playing her way through it and improving her game in ways she hadn't needed to when her big sister was still there.
 
"When Lexi left, there was kind of a gap for our team because she was so good," Claire said. "I wasn't the same player, so I had to do different things. I found a way to fill the spot and I was able to lead the same as she had. That's when I learned to really play water polo for myself."
 
The growth in Claire as both a player and a leader was something her mother noticed as well.
 
"Claire always got to train up with Lexi a lot in the older group, which is good on one hand. But on the other hand, it makes you always somebody's little sister," Alicia said. "I don't think Claire was ever in Lexi's shadow, but when she left, Claire was standing on her own two feet. I think she grew a real maturity and understanding about being a leader to a team both in and out of the pool."
 
Despite the Rowells' strong ties to Cal, the only push Claire ever felt to add to the family's Bear legacy came from within.
 
"There was no subtle pressure. When different coaches started reaching out to Claire, it was so important to us that she make the decision; that she felt like it was the place for her," Alicia said. "For all three of our kids, it was like, find the place that fits you, fits how you play your sport, and fits academically. It just happened to be Cal for two of them. But once Claire did commit, I do remember tearing up a little bit because it was just so exciting."
 
That excitement would reach its peak during the 2023 season, when Claire, as a redshirt freshman at Cal, would finally get to face off against her sister, who was in her senior year, in four regular-season meetings between Cal and Stanford. However, it was more exciting for some than others.
 
"My husband enjoyed every minute of it. He felt like he couldn't lose," Alicia said. "I felt more like, 'I can't win.' But we did our best, put on both colors and tried enjoying the fact that it was great water polo and two siblings from two great teams of women playing each other."
 
Claire went on to finish her standout freshman campaign as an MPSF All-Newcomer Team selection and took home an MPSF Newcomer of the Week award, establishing herself as one of the conference's brightest young players. As she continues to build her own legacy at a school that is no stranger to her surname, she'll do so with plenty of proud family members in the stands.
 
"Ever since our children were born, or when they were in elementary school, we'd pick them up and go out to Cal basketball and football games," Alicia said. "That was their family thing and that's their hometown team, no matter what."