Mormon Athlete Answers Questions about Faith, Family, and the Olympics

The following is an interview Lani Jones conducted with Olympian Tamua Anae Tavana. The full interview is posted on the blog Normons—a blog dedicated to showing the world that Mormons are normal people too! Enjoy our #WomanCrushWednesday post!

Tumua Anae was born in Hawaii and grew up in Newport Beach. She started her career playing high school water polo at Corona del Mar with me. I went on to be a washed up athlete, while Tumua won multiple national championships as USC’s goalie. She ended her career with the most saves in school history. Tumua joined the U.S. National Team in 2010, and was later selected to play in the 2012 London Olympics where she and her teammates won the gold medal. Tumua recently married Futi Tavana, former BYU volleyball standout and current member of the U.S.A. Volleyball Team. And yes, their kids will definitely be able to beat up your kids.

LJ: Can you tell me about the transition from being a collegiate athlete to a professional?

TT: After my senior season at USC, I was invited to play with the United States women’s national team. That’s when I committed to pursuing water polo professionally. I think that the decision to continue to pursue athletics is a tricky one. To many, it seems like an easy decision, but there are definitely things I wasn’t completely sure about. It came down to my love for sport. I wanted to become the best athlete that I could possibly be. I wanted to explore the potential to be great and I wanted to fulfill my childhood dream of representing my country.

LJ: How did the obvious physical and emotional challenges you went through affect your relationship with God? 

TT: Our coach always reminded us when things got tough that we were trying to be the best in the world. In order to do that, we needed to be better at every aspect of our game – we had to be mentally, physically, and emotionally sharp both individually and collectively.

For me to be at my best, I needed the help of my Heavenly Father. The stakes are high when you are competing at that level. It’s sometimes hard to see the big picture. But for me, the gospel was that perspective. It kept the important things the important things.

This rang true for me when I had to get shoulder surgery in October 2010, 3 months before full-time Olympic training. Right after, I could barely swim a lap. It was incredibly discouraging, but I know it also strengthened my relationship with God. I prayed and fasted about my Olympic venture…and when you have God backing you up, you don’t give in. A seemingly physical task of recovery and training was very much a matter of strengthening my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

Throughout all the training and practice, I also saw how blessed I was – particularly that I couldn’t have done any of this without the blessing of such a wonderful family. Heavenly Father knows us personally, and one of the ways I know is because of the people he surrounded me with. Two people that really impacted me through all of this were my cousin Meghan Porter and my Aunt Valerie Anae. They both passed away after fighting cancer right when I was leaving for London. I can’t say that I would have been there without them. Meghan had organized a family reunion around my Olympic schedule, even when we weren’t sure if I had made the team. She never lost faith in me. Aunty Val was my second mom; she taught me the value of hard work and was the epitome of a competitor. It’s because of the faith that my family had in me that I was able to stand on that podium. I couldn’t be more thankful to my Heavenly Father for choosing to surround me with people who love me unconditionally.

I’d say pursuing a worthy goal with the knowledge that your Heavenly Father supports you in it, and doing it with a perspective of keeping the important things important, is what made my experience so worthwhile.

LJ: What if your kids can’t swim or play volleyball? Haha JK, but seriously…

TT: Futi and I laugh about this all the time. I think our future kids may suffer from a case of over-breeding. But in all honesty, we are active people and we would love to share those hobbies with our children. I think the bigger issue is USC or BYU, but we have some time till we have to pitch our alma maters to our kids…and you better believe I’ll shamelessly flash my national championship ring around that time so they get the hint.

Read Lani Jones’ full interview with Tamua Anae Tavana at normons.com.