Dec. 2, 2014
SAN DIEGO - Starting with the first week of classes back in late August, we began to look at every varsity women's water polo team in school history, which spans 20 seasons. This week we look at the 2003 team. The Aztecs finished with a 21-12 record and finished sixth in the nation under head coach Carin Crawford.
Where are they now?
Brenna Wylie Hughes, who recently gave birth to the family's second child, was a member of the water polo squad from 2000-03. The former Brenna Wylie helped the Aztecs to three 20-win campaigns and four top-8 national finishes.
Questions for Brenna:
1. Where are you living and what career path have you chosen after graduating from SDSU?
"I'm currently the team lead in acute speech-language pathology at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in downtown Fresno, the only Level 1 trauma center between Los Angeles and Sacramento. Our team of speech-language pathologists work all over the hospital to assess and rehabilitate adult and pediatric patients with cognitive-communicative, voice, and swallowing disorders as a result of acute stroke, traumatic brain injury, neuromuscular diseases, burns, cancer, cardiac/respiratory failure, and many other metabolic problems. After graduating from SDSU in 2003, I moved to Spain and taught English for about a year while traveling around Europe. Following that amazing experience, I moved closer to home (Merced) and started graduate school at Fresno State, where I met my husband, Eddie Hughes. I was playing club water polo and he was a sports journalism student. We got married in 2007, and I started working at CRMC. I literally started my job there the morning after our honeymoon in Maui. The rest is history. I've been at CRMC ever since, and there's no place like it. It's a teaching hospital and the staff I work with is like family."
2. Your husband is a big Fresno State fan and you are an Aztec For Life, can you tell us about your family rivalry?
"It makes for a fun household rivalry! Eddie was born and raised in Fresno, and grew up tailgating and going to Fresno State games with his parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents, so it's like it's ingrained in his DNA. He also works on campus, as the senior editor for Fresno State Magazine. Whenever the Aztecs play the Bulldogs in football, we either travel to San Diego for the games, or a whole group of my former SDSU water polo teammates and friends travel to Fresno. We do it up big! And, yes, the rumor is true, we even have a household trophy that changes hands after each game. The "trophy" is a framed black-and-white photo that was gifted to us, displaying a billboard promoting the 1940 Aztecs-Bulldogs game that ended in a 0-0 tie, which makes it a nice and even trophy symbol for us."
3. You still remain close to many of your teammates, can you describe the lifelong friendships you created while at SDSU?
"It's difficult to describe the lifelong friendships I made at SDSU; those girls are special, and I love each and every one of them dearly. There's no bond like one you create from living in a house full of seven girls who you also carpooled to and from morning and afternoon practice with plus beach workouts, "hell week," classes, study hall, meals, social outings and charitable events for four years! We are the kind of friends who, even if we only get to see each other once or twice a year because we are so spread out now, we feel completely comfortable and just pick up where we left off. We have an annual "Girls Reunion" every year, and I am looking forward to opening our time capsule from the first reunion in 2004, and each year I can't wait to reunite with our mascot "Dumb Cluck," a rubber chicken awarded to one lucky girl at each reunion."
4. What is your favorite memory of being a student-athlete at SDSU?
"Gosh, there are so many. We were in heaven when we were able to start using the Ray & Joan Kroc pool facility and the new weight room, locker rooms and study hall, back when the Aztec Hall of Fame was built. I'd have to say the most fun for me had to be the athletic talent shows, volunteering at Street Scene, and our rookie parties. Being part of such a successful water polo program and forming those lifelong friendships--that's priceless. And, of course, the great preparation I got as a student that led to my future career. Those college days were the definition of the good ole' days for sure!"
5. Can you tell us a funny memory you have of your coach, Carin Crawford?
"One funny story was one of the first impressions we had on Coach Carin. Our freshman year, we all got situated in our dorms and met our teammates and basically learned who had cars and could get around. I was one of the only freshman that year with a car. Carin's very organized and of course we all received our preseason packet of specific instructions on practice times, dates and locations. For that first practice, we piled into my two-door Chevy Cavalier. Our written instructions said to take "8-East" from campus to get to the Texas Street pool. I argued with the five other freshman I had just met, who were also either from out of town or the Central Valley and new to San Diego, that Texas Street was West, but I lost. So we drove 20 minutes into El Cajon before we turned around and made our way the right direction to practice, arriving 30 minutes late. And anyone who knows Carin, knows you DON'T COME LATE TO PRACTICE! We got the look of death from Carin as we rolled up late--five scrubby, seemingly pompous freshmen. I timidly tried to explain the tardiness was due to a misprint in our packet. She was a little taken aback, but then verified the error. Still, we all knew that was our one pass and we were not going to get another! And believe me, the next four years were a testament to mental toughness, hard work and determination for a coach who engrained a strong work ethic into us all every day!"
Stay Connected with SDSU Water Polo
Make sure to stay updated with Aztec water polo by liking them on Facebook, and following them on Twitter and Instagram.
Former Aztecs can also stay connected with other former student-athletes through the Aztec Varsity Club. For more information on the newly formed athletics group, visit goaztecs.com/avc or contact Johanna Pfeiffer at (619) 594-6444 or aztecvarsityclub@mail.sdsu.edu.
A Look Back at 20 Years of SDSU Water Polo: 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002