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Peter Varellas, Olympic Water Polo Player, On Hard Work Paying Off

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Peter Varellas is a two-time U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team Member and 2008 Beijing Silver Medalist. He played college water polo at Stanford University, where he was an All-America and National Champion.

Here, Varellas shares the importance in sports of connecting hard work now with payoff later. Athletes train months ahead of time in hopes of future reward. It’s tough when you’re focusing on something so far in the distance to stay focused and willing to work hard in the moment. He feels lucky to have had a coach teach him the connection, because it reinforced his work ethic. Varellas puts hard work into perspective by saying that if you fall short of your goals, you’re never comforted by the days you took it easy or skipped practice, you only feel the pain of falling short in the moment.