The first world championship of a new water polo era belongs to the United States, and Ryann Neushul was its defining force. She led the American women to gold at the inaugural World Aquatics 4×4 Open Championships in Dubrovnik on September 6, 2026, sweeping Spain and securing a title no nation had ever held before.
Three sets, zero doubt
The gold-medal match played out in the compact 15-by-12-metre pool that defines the 4×4 format. Three field players, a goalkeeper, and twenty seconds to strike. The United States never let Spain settle.
Neushul struck three times in the final, matching teammate Jewel Roemer's tally. Goalkeeper Lauren Steele turned away 11 shots, a wall in reduced space. The American women had not dropped a single set in seven tournament games, and they kept that clean record intact when it mattered most.
A flawless week on the Adriatic
The championship ran from August 31 through early September on the Croatian coast. In group play, the USA faced Spain, Greece, South Africa and Türkiye, winning every encounter by set sweep. The knockout rounds brought quarterfinal victory over South Africa and a semifinal defeat of Australia before the Spanish rematch for gold.
Neushul had already ignited the week with six goals in one group-stage outing against Türkiye, while Steele made nine saves. The Americans leaned on the counterattack, with Neushul and Jenna Flynn converting one-on-one chances before Roemer added a penalty finish in a 6-0 first-set blitz.
Olympian roots, new chapter
The Dos Pueblos and Stanford graduate arrived in Dubrovnik with a résumé already heavy in gold: world titles with the senior national team in 2019, 2022 and 2024, a 2024 Olympic berth, and a World Cup victory earlier that summer. This championship, however, was something else — the first global test of the sport's fastest variant.
Tournament organisers named Neushul the Most Valuable Player and placed her on the Media All Star Team. Head coach Molly Cahill, a Santa Barbara native, watched her squad write the opening entry in the 4×4 record book.
The team returned home as the inaugural world champions of a format built on speed. The game had a new shape, and the American women had set its first standard.
