This feature originally appeared in the 2025 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
The sound of a whistle pierces through the air on a February afternoon in Berkeley, and fans of the California women’s water polo team cheer as senior Ruby Swadling swims up to take a five-meter penalty shot.
Upon arriving at the spot, Swadling keeps her gaze fixed on the sideline at Spieker Aquatics Complex, waiting for her green light to shoot. The whistle blows again, and in an instant, the Golden Bears’ three-goal lead becomes four.
If you blinked, you missed it.
“She got rid of that ball so quick, Davis goalie Lucy Holland’s hands weren’t even out of the water before the ball got to the back of the net!” broadcast announcer Wes Kading remarks on the Overnght.com live stream.
In the grand scheme of things, this was by no means a goal carrying any sort of monumental implications. And in the context of the Bears’ 2025 season, it was just another one of many small steps in the right direction, giving them an 8-4 lead over top-10 program UC Davis on their way to an impressive 8-0 start to the year.
At that same moment though, more than 7,400 miles away though, Swadling’s family shared a hearty laugh over what it had just witnessed – and, what it really meant.
“[Kading] had never seen anyone take a penalty so quickly, and neither had I! Ruby just picked it up and threw it,” Swadling’s mother, Tessa, recalled. “I told her after the game that we were all laughing at home, it was so hilarious. She said to me, ‘Well, now I just give it a go, mum… It doesn’t matter.'”
In previous seasons, Swadling might have treated the penalty as seriously as if she were taking it in the fourth quarter of a tie game at the NCAA Championship. Things are different this year.
After arriving at Cal in January of 2020, Swadling quickly made a name for herself as one of the Bears’ top players, earning All-MPSF honors as a true freshman. Two months after earning her second consecutive ACWPC All-America honor in May of 2023, she helped her native Australia finish fourth at the World Aquatics Championships.
Following that experience, Swadling made the decision to take a year off from Cal, remaining in Australia to focus on training for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Then, last May, as the Bears hosted the 2024 NCAA Championship – where they went on a historic run that saw them reach the national title game for the second time in program history – Swadling received the news: despite being one of the last 21 players in consideration to make Australia’s Olympic squad, she hadn’t made the final cut.
“That was definitely a very hard moment in my life and career, because I so easily could have said to myself, ‘I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore,'” Swadling said. “Instead, I took a few months off, spent time with my family and friends, and came back to Berkeley, where I’ve been enjoying myself and having fun playing water polo. It’s something that I’m proud of; that I’ve come back to play water polo and not let that experience define me.”
There is a running joke in the Swadling family: “Mum must have been scrolling through Instagram last night, because I woke up to all these motivational quotes.” It’s a lighthearted sentiment shared by Swadling and her two older siblings, Mia and Max, but one that speaks volumes about the support system their family has in place.
While on one hand it was a tough pill for Swadling to swallow that her efforts and sacrifices had fallen short, it was another chance to be reminded by her mother to always find the silver lining.
“Out of something bad comes something good.”
This time around, the “good” took numerous forms. Swadling was able to enjoy her longest break from water polo since she started playing competitively at the age of 11. For the first time since she joined the Bears, she was able to join her family on holiday and reconnect with old friends. And, as she enjoyed her well-deserved break from training, she realized how she felt about water polo at this stage in her career.
“Having so much time off, it makes you remember how much you love the sport,” Swadling said. “When you’re in the depths of training, sometimes it can be a lot. But when you’re not in the pool and you realize, ‘I miss playing. I miss my teammates,’ you realize how much you miss it, and that’s so important.”
Coming from a family of swimmers, Swadling grew up watching Max and Mia compete on weekends. At age 10, during one of Max’s water polo games, Swadling turned to her mother and decided that she was done with swimming.
“Water polo looks like much more fun,” she told her.
Swadling went on to become an elite in three different sports – cross country, triathlon, and water polo. When the national camp schedules for triathlons and water polo eventually conflicted, she had to pick just one to continue pursuing. Her decision to go with water polo wasn’t a fluke – in fact, it was a choice that she doubled down on shortly after.
After completing her ninth year at SCEGGS Darlinghurst in 2016 – a distinguished private school known for its academics, but one without a sports program – Swadling again boldly chose her own path, telling her parents that she was going to transfer to St. Catherine’s School heading into year 10.
“We were reluctant because I went to SCEGGS, and her sister went there, but she turned to my husband and I and said, ‘I’m going. I’m going to make the appointment myself. If I want to keep playing water polo and doing well, then I have to move schools,'” Tessa said. “And so, we moved her… Well, actually, she moved herself. And It was the best thing she ever did.”
At St. Catherine’s – where four-time Olympian Richard Campbell served as the head of water polo and current Australia men’s national team assistant coach Andrew Yanitsas was the director of sport – Swadling gained the structure and guidance she needed as a student-athlete, and her love of water polo only continued to grow as she made larger and larger waves.
In 2018, playing for her lifelong club, UNSW Sydney, alongside former Arizona State star Daisy Carter and two-time Olympian Ashleigh Southern – who Swadling names as two of her most influential teammates – she helped the Killer Whales win their first-ever national championship.
That same year, she debuted on the international stage at the 2018 Youth World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. It was at that tournament where, for the first time, Swadling’s path to Berkeley revealed itself.
“Ruby was approached by one of the American universities. She had never really thought about it before,” Tessa said. “A couple of the coaches spoke to her and that’s when she became interested. We thought it was an incredible opportunity for her to get an amazing education.”
While Tessa claims that some Australians have a romanticized idea of the American college experience, she notes that Ruby would be the first to admit that it’s no fairy tale. From traveling halfway across the world to arriving in Berkeley during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the academic pressures that accompany attending the world’s No. 1 public university, to the self-imposed expectations of performing athletically at the highest levels, Swadling has had plenty of challenges to overcome over the past five and a half years. But she has always found a way to push past them.
“A big reason why I continue to move forward is because of my resilience,” Swadling said. “There are a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of challenges that I’ve had to overcome. It’s so easy to just stop and say, ‘I’m done.’ But I’m always hungry to do more things, and as long as I’ve gone out there and given everything, I can be happy with what I’ve done.”
When Swadling came back for her fifth year as a Cal student-athlete last August, she brought with her a balance between academic, athletic and social pursuits that was as strong as it had ever been. It’s a strength that pays huge dividends both in the pool and for her mental health.
“I’ve tried not to be so narrow-minded, and I’m not so stressed about everything because I know that whether it’s something with school or water polo, it’s not the end of the world,” Swadling said. “When I came back in August, I realized the class I started with was gone, and the class below me was gone. It was an entirely new team with a lot of people I had never met before, but I was welcomed back with open arms. I feel so connected with my Cal teammates and our team camaraderie is special. That definitely makes me a lot happier, and I play my best water polo when I’m happy and I’m playing free.”
Once Swadling’s days at Cal are over, she plans to move home to Australia with her eyes set on the next Olympic cycle. While more challenges undoubtedly await her in the pursuit of her dreams, the sacrifices she makes will be accompanied – as they always have been – by the support of her family.
“My parents always used to tell me to leave nothing in the tank. I’m going to keep playing water polo and we’ll see what comes of that, but I’ve definitely got some more gas left in the tank,” Swadling said. “I’m not done yet.”
