Ericka Lorenz

Ericka Denise Lorenz (born February 18, 1981) was an American water polo player, who competed for the University of California Berkeley, and won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Since retiring from competitive water polo in 2008, she has worked as lifeguard in Huntington Beach, CA, and a Los Angeles County Ocean Lifeguard Specialist.

Early life Lorenz was born in San Diego, California on February 18, 1981 to parents Duane and Denise Lorenz. Ericka attended San Diego's Patrick Henry High, where she received first team All-American honors in water polo in the years 1998, 1997, and 1999. Lorenz was an All-CIF Player of the year in water polo in her Sophomore year. A multi-sport athlete, she was a recipient of first team All-California Interscholastic Federation honors twice in volleyball and an offensive team MVP in four years in softball. In her first year playing water polo at Berkeley under Head women's coach Peter Asch, Lorenz led the California Golden Bears women's team in scoring with 44 goals and received All-American first team honors. As a Sophomore at Berkeley, she was second for the year in scoring with 37 goals. In her Berkeley career, she distinguished herself as a collegiate player, scoring 81 goals in two seasons.

At 19, she was the youngest member of the American Olympic Team to participate in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In one of the 2004 Olympic semi-finals, the Greek team beat Australia 6–2 to move on to the finals. Italy trailed the U.S. Women's water polo team for most of the other semi-final game, but eventually won 6-5 leaving the U.S. team with the bronze medal. Italy had defeated Greece, 7-2, in group play, but the final game for the gold and silver medal was quite close, and was tied 7–7 at the end of regular play. Greece took a 9–7 lead in overtime, but Italy tied the game, and then won the game by a score of 10–9 in a second overtime, capturing the gold medal, with Greece receiving the silver.

International competition highlights In international competition, Lorenz won a gold medal in the 2003 World Championship in Barcelona, Spain, the first U.S. women's team to win a World Championship in water polo. She made a valuable contribution to the US team at the 2003 Barcelona World Championships by scoring 4 goals in the final game, distinguishing herself as an outstanding outside shooter. She later won a silver medal with the U.S. team at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal. She won a second gold with the U.S. team at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. In Pan American competition, she won a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. In earlier competition, she won a gold medal at the 2001 World Junior Championships in Perth, Australia.

Careers When not competing for Team USA, Lorenz played professional water polo player for the Italian team, Ortigia-Siracusa. She retired from elite water polo competition in 2008 due primarily to an injury to her knee and did not seek a place on the 2008 Olympic team. She served as a lifeguard in Huntington Beach, CA, and ascended to the position of Los Angeles County Ocean Lifeguard Specialist.

Honors Lorenz was admitted to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2021, partly in respect to her pioneering efforts in achieving world prominence for the U.S. women in water polo.