ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan water polo player Carter Britt has spent her life in the pool, much like the rest of her family.
“I started swimming when I was 3 years old,” Britt, a Newport Beach, California, native said. “My parents just threw my siblings and I in a pool and made that our sport.”
She has done more than swim in her years before coming to Michigan. Britt began playing water polo when she was 9 years old after her older sister, Eliza, and her older brother, Nick, started playing. She said that she made the switch because she needed a sport with a team atmosphere where she could build connections with her teammates both in and out of the water.
Britt, a two-time USA Water Polo All-Academic selection, credits her family for inspiring her to make the switch. Eliza graduated from Princeton University last year after four seasons with the Tigers, one of Michigan’s biggest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) rivals. Choosing where to go to college is where Carter deviated from her older sister’s path.
“My sister went to Princeton, and I think my parents always wanted that for me, but I liked the atmosphere here,” Britt explained. “Princeton and Michigan are both very good academic schools, but at Michigan there’s that school spirit.”
Michigan’s Carter Britt (left) and her sister Eliza of Princeton
Britt admitted that it was hard to tell her sister about her choice to attend Michigan instead of Princeton. She said that when she decided that Michigan was her top choice, there were a few months where the family decided to keep Eliza out of the loop.
“They were seriously concerned with how she would react,” Britt recalled with a chuckle.
Michigan and Princeton have met in the CWPA Championship game each of the last three seasons with the Wolverines winning all three. Britt discussed how difficult it was to get her sister to put on any Michigan gear when she visited. She managed to convince Eliza to put on a Michigan sweatshirt but is not sure that she will get the same result when then CWPA Championship rolls around in April.
“My parents will definitely be splitting up their support between Princeton and Michigan,” Britt said. “As for my sister, I think that’s a different story. We might not see her in Michigan gear.”
Now at Michigan, Britt finds herself alongside one of her longtime teammates and friends, water polo freshman Ella Abbott.
“I knew that Ella wanted to go to Michigan, and people thought I would go to Princeton because my sister went there,” Britt said. “I remember I was nervous to tell her that Michigan was my number one. I didn’t know how she would feel about going to the same school together because college is supposed to be all about branching out.
“I feel like we both couldn’t be happier now.”
Britt said that staying connected with friends and teammates, like Ella, is what she likes best about water polo.
“I think having a community just makes everything so much more fun,” Britt said. “Seeing two girls who played on my high school team that I am really close with killing it at UCLA and Stanford is something that makes me so excited for them. Knowing that basically every senior from my high school water polo team is playing in college, and being able to say hi to them during games is such a fun thing.”
Now that she is at Michigan, Britt is able to expand that community and create a friendly rivalry with her sister when U-M takes on Princeton.
Release courtesy University of Michigan (by Max Brill)
