For UC Davis water polo player Lillie Vehling, an afternoon at Seattle's Lake Washington quickly became a moment in which the skills she had spent years developing in the water were suddenly needed far beyond the pool.

Vehling helped save three young girls from drowning in Lake Washington during Seattle's Seafair festivities, responding when she noticed the girls struggling in the water.

"I looked up and saw the girls struggling and immediately kicked off my shoes," Vehling recalled.

Vehling, a collegiate water polo player and trained lifeguard, entered the water and began working to bring the girls to safety. What followed required her to stay calm, assess the situation, and rely on instincts developed through years in the water.

"In that moment, I wasn't worried about my own safety," Vehling said. "In water polo, it's your job in the pool not to get drowned. The sport teaches you to act and rely on your instincts and your skills in the moment."

Vehling worked to assist the girls, at times relying on one of water polo's most fundamental skills, the eggbeater, to help keep them above the surface. "The eggbeater was huge when I was trying to hold the girls up," she said.

The rescue ultimately ended with all three girls making it safely out of the water. For the water polo community, Vehling's actions are an extraordinary example of how the skills developed through aquatic sports can extend far beyond competition.

Water polo requires athletes to become exceptionally comfortable in deep water. Players learn to tread without using their hands, maintain awareness while physically fatigued, navigate contact, and make decisions in seconds. Combined with Vehling's lifeguard training, those years of experience helped prepare her to respond when the situation in front of her became an emergency.

A Commitment to Water Safety

Vehling's connection to water safety began well before that afternoon in Seattle. The Woodland Hills, California native competes for the UC Davis women's water polo team and has also used her experience in the sport to help others develop their own confidence in the water.

Alongside UC Davis teammate Sadie Henry, Vehling co-founded SWAG (Swim AGs), an initiative focused on making swim education and water safety more accessible.

Through free clinics led by Division I water polo athletes, SWAG provides participants with individualized swim instruction while helping them become more comfortable and confident in the water.

The initiative grew from Vehling and Henry recognizing that the ability to swim, something that can feel second nature to lifelong aquatic athletes, isn't a skill everyone has had the opportunity to develop.

For Vehling, helping others build that confidence has become an important extension of her experience as an athlete. Her commitment to service and leadership through SWAG was recognized earlier this year when she received the Big West Service and Leadership Award.

Following what happened at Lake Washington, that commitment to water safety carries even greater meaning.



The Lessons Water Polo Teaches

While Vehling's experience in water polo gave her skills she could rely upon during the rescue, one of the most important lessons she has taken from the sport has little to do with wins or losses. It's about continuing to show up.

"The biggest thing I've learned from water polo is not to give up," Vehling said. "I couldn't [do an] eggbeater for three whole years. Seeing the progress I made in every practice is why I continued to show up."

Years later, that same skill became the one Vehling relied upon as she worked to keep the girls above the water.

"It's a tough sport, but being able to recognize the journey and how far you've come is one of my favorite things about water polo," Vehling said.

It's a message that extends well beyond Vehling's own experience.  Young water polo athletes may not immediately recognize the progress they are making during a difficult practice or while struggling to master a new skill. They may not know how the confidence, awareness, and perseverance they're developing will serve them years from now. Vehling certainly couldn't have known where her own journey would take her. But on an afternoon in Lake Washington, when three young girls needed help, years of training, water confidence, and instinct were there when she needed them most.

For a sport built around being comfortable in an environment where most people are not, Vehling's story is a powerful reminder that what water polo athletes learn in the pool can reach far beyond the game.