Stephania Haralabidis

Stephania Haralabidis was born on May 19, 1995, in Athens, Greece. She developed an early interest in water polo, commencing her career with significant achievements in junior national teams. Haralabidis competed on junior and senior national teams for Greece, winning a bronze medal at the 2012 FINA World League in Changshu, China, and gold medals at the 2011 European Junior Championship and the 2012 Youth World Championships. Her early success included being named MVP of the 2011 Junior European Championship and winning gold at the 2014 European U19 Championship in Ostia, Italy. She attended Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach for her senior year, where she was part of the CIF Championship team in 2013, while also playing club water polo for Tritonas Amarousiou in Greece and for Corona del Mar and Socal in California.

Haralabidis continued her athletic and academic journey at the University of Southern California (USC), playing for the women’s water polo team from 2014 to 2017. During her time at USC, she achieved significant milestones, including leading the team to an NCAA championship in 2016. In her senior year in 2017, she finished as the program’s second all-time leading scorer with 269 career goals, leading USC and the MPSF with 84 goals. She received multiple accolades, including First Team All-American and All-MPSF First Team selections, and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team and MPSF All-Tournament Team. In 2016, she won the Peter J. Cutino Award, was named National Player of the Year and MPSF Player of the Year, and earned NCAA Tournament MVP honors after scoring five goals, including the game-winner, in the NCAA Championship game. She joined the U.S. Senior National Team in December 2017, going on to win a gold medal at the 2018 FINA World League in Kunshan, China, and another gold at the 2018 FINA World Cup in Surgut, Russia. In 2019, she led Team USA with 22 goals at the Pan American Games in Lima, securing a gold medal, and also won gold at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. Her career peaked with an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another gold at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.

Following her collegiate career, Haralabidis continued to compete at a high level. For the 2021–2022 season, she played for the Greek club Ethnikos based in Piraeus, Athens, alongside her twin sister, Ioanna. During this season, Haralabidis played a role in Ethnikos winning the 2021–22 Women’s LEN Trophy, which marked the club’s second European title. She holds a degree in International Relations and a minor in Marketing from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.