‘It ain’t easy!’: Flavor Flav says he felt like an Olympian as he sports official US water polo cap in pool with women’s team
By Amy Woodyatt and Jacob Lev, CNN
(CNN) — Rapper, reality TV star, and entrepreneur Flavor Flav has joined the US women’s water polo team in the pool for a splash about ahead of this summer’s Olympics.
The musician donned swim shorts and an official USA Water Polo cap – removing his trademark clock medallion poolside – as he chanted “USA, USA” before getting into the water on Tuesday.
Flav, who recently signed a sponsorship deal to be the “official Hype Man for USA Water Polo Women’s and Men’s National Teams,” said he felt like an Olympian wearing the cap.
“This ain’t easy!,” the musician exclaimed as he tried out some moves in the water. However, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer was seen netting a smooth goal in practice, and was reassured by members of the women’s team that he had the knack.
“You’re one of the best people to be able to get in [the water] with us,” one player can be heard telling him in a video posted to Instagram by USA Water Polo.
The musician, best known for co-founding rap group Public Enemy, offered his services as hype man for the US women’s water polo team ahead of this year’s Paris Olympics after seeing an Instagram post from captain Maggie Steffens urging more people to follow the sport.
Replying to Steffens on Instagram, he pledged to “use all my relationships and resources” to support the team in the build-up to the Games.
“It’s great because what water polo needs, and what a lot of these niche sports need, is someone to open the door to our sport. There’s only so much that we as the athletes can do,” Steffens previously told CNN Sport.
Steffens and her peers are aiming to make history in Paris as the first women’s water polo team to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals, with the 30-year-old part of each of the previous three successes.
Despite such dominance, the team is still largely unknown to many. Like other sports, water polo can struggle to attract audiences outside the spotlight of the Olympics, which only come around once every four years.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s George Ramsay contributed reporting.
