| Heather Petri | |
| Fullname: | Heather Danielle Petri |
| Birth Place: | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Headercolor: | lightsteelblue |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Heather Danielle Petri (born June 13, 1978) is an American water polo player who won the silver medal with the US women's national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 and a gold medal in London 2012.[1] She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics and one of two female athletes who won four Olympic medals in water polo.[2] Her position is attacker.
Petri began playing water polo on the boys' team in high school, but helped start a girls' water polo program at Miramonte High School and was team captain for two years. In 1997 she was recruited by UC Berkeley coach Maureen O'Toole, and played collegiate water polo from 1997–2001. Petri earned All-America and All-MPSF honors at Cal in 1998 and 1999, and finished her college career with 96 goals. She sat out her senior season as a member of the first US women's Olympic water polo team and graduated from Berkeley in 2002 with a degree in integrative biology. She played for Rari-Nantes, a professional water polo team in Florence, Italy, for the 2004–2005 and 2005–2006 seasons, and is currently a member of the US senior women's team.
In March 2007, Petri competed in the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, representing the United States. After a series of victories, the United States won the gold medal, becoming world champions. Petri also won a gold medal in the 2003 World Aquatic Championships in Barcelona, Spain and in 2009 in Rome. She is now a three-time World Champion.
At the 2008 China Summer Olympic games, she and the American team lost 8-9 in the Championship game to the Netherlands and took home the silver medal.
In June 2009, Petri was named to the USA water polo women's senior national team for the 2009 FINA World Championships. She currently works as an assistant coach for the Cal Women's water polo team under former olympic teammate Coralie Simmons.
In 2018, she was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.[3] [4]