WPOLO6/20/2024 3:41 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Kitty Lynn Joustra Headed To Second Olympic Games
Cal Alum Returns To Lineup With 2023 World Champion Netherlands
Kitty Lynn Joustra is officially headed to her second Olympic Games.
After helping Team Netherlands clinch its spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics during last summer's World Aquatics Women's Water Polo Championships, Joustra was named to the team's 13-person Olympic roster this week.Â
A four-time ACWPC All-American as a member of the California women's water polo team from 2018-22, Joustra has continued to find success at the international level in her post-collegiate career. In 2023, she became the fifth Golden Bear in program history – and the first since Roser Tarrago in 2013 – to win World Championships gold.
Joustra scored 10 goals over the final four games of that competition, the last of which came in a thrilling 17-16 gold-medal game win over Spain that saw the Netherlands clinch its first world championship in 32 years. A month prior to that, Joustra and the Netherlands finished as runners-up to the United States at the 2023 FINA World Cup in Long Beach.
Joustra is set to become the sixth Bear in program history to compete in multiple Olympics this summer, joining Heather Petri, Roser Tarrago, Dora Antal, Ericka Lorenz and Elsie Windes. She was one of a record seven Bears who competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, earning a sixth-place finish.
The group stage begins on Saturday, July 27, with the Netherlands taking on Hungary in the first water polo match of this year's Olympics for either the men or women.
Â