Current:Home > InvestSurprise! USA water polo team gets tickets to see the Eras Tour in Paris from Taylor Swift -Quantum Capital Pro
Surprise! USA water polo team gets tickets to see the Eras Tour in Paris from Taylor Swift
View
Date:2025-04-17 15:53:16
A cold email with a big wish led to a once-in-a-lifetime night for 23 members of the U.S. women's water polo team.
"I don't know how I'm going to top this," says Ally Beck over Zoom. Beck, the operational manager, reached out to Taylor Swift's team earlier this year hoping to surprise her athletes with tickets to the Eras Tour.
"We've been preparing for the Olympics and got invited by France to do a test event in Paris," Beck says. When she looked for activities for the team to do, she noticed Swift would kick off the second year of her record-breaking tour in the French capital city. So she e-mailed the singer's team.
Weeks went by and while Beck was boarding the plane from Los Angeles to France, she got a reply that stopped her in her tracks.
"The audible squeal that came out of me on the plane," she says. "I was like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, everyone.'"
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Beck waited until the Wednesday before the concert to tell the team.
You can see the reaction in the video above.
"The girls just lost it," Beck says. "And from there, it was like, 'What are we going to wear?' We were squealing down the hallway."
'There is no amount of times to say thank you'
On Friday, 15 water polo athletes and eight staff members piled into the VIP floor section dubbed the "Red" lounge. Two of the biggest Swifties on the team are Denise Mammolito, the utility outside shooter, and center Ava Johnson. Mammolito's first concert was Swift's second era: "Fearless."
The Eras Tour added to an already amazing week for the team, after rapper Flavor Flav said he would help financially support the team's trip to the summer games in Paris.
Team captain Maggie Steffens took to Instagram with an inspirational post that read in part: "Some may not know this, but most Olympians need a 2nd (or 3rd) job to support chasing the dream (myself included!) and most teams rely on sponsors for travel, accommodations, nutritional support, rent/lodging, and simply affording to live in this day and age. Especially female sports and female athletes."
Flavor Flav replied, "AYYY YOOO,,, as a girl dad and supporter of all women’s sports - imma personally sponsor you my girl,,, whatever you need. And imma sponsor the whole team. My manager is in touch with your agent and imma use all my relationships and resources to help all y’all even more. That’s a FLAVOR FLAV promise."
Beck could not be more grateful to Swift and Flavor Flav for their generosity and kindness.
"There is no amount of times to say thank you," Beck says, "just seeing everybody light up, enjoy like the power that is Taylor and kind of getting to watch her in her element and then the extra layer of knowing she's rocking the La Défense arena and we're going to go for gold there in a couple of months, just the amount of inspiration we were able to draw from her is a whole other level."
The team will compete in the stadium at the end of July and beginning of August. They are poised to defend their three consecutive gold titles: 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo.
Swift continues her European leg of the Eras Tour in Sweden this weekend before heading to Lisbon, Portugal, next week.
Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.
Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
veryGood! (51)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Loved ones plea for the safe return of Broadway performer missing for nearly two weeks
- How do I handle poor attendance problems with employees? Ask HR
- Leaf-peepers are flocking to see New England’s brilliant fall colors
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- 4 Fall Athleisure Looks We're Loving Right Now
- Social Security will pay its largest checks ever in 2025. Here's how much they'll be
- The Daily Money: America's retirement system gets a C+
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- Dylan Sprouse Proves He's Wife Barbara Palvin's Biggest Cheerleader Ahead of Victoria's Secret Show
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Lionel Messi has hat trick, two assists in Argentina's 6-0 lead vs. Bolivia
- Social Security will pay its largest checks ever in 2025. Here's how much they'll be
- Jim Harbaugh heart condition: Why Chargers coach left game with 'atrial flutter'
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Is there anything Caitlin Clark can't do? WNBA star comes inches away from hole-in-one
- The Daily Money: So long, city life
- Easily decipher dashboard lights, laundry symbols with this hack
Recommendation
Sam Taylor
Who won 'Big Brother 26'? Recapping Sunday's season finale
Woody Johnson sounds off on optimism for Jets, Davante Adams trade
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh shares update on heart condition
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Cavaliers break ground on new state-of-the-art training facility scheduled to open in 2027
Nicholas Sparks' Chicken Salad With 16 Splenda Packets Is a Recipe to Remember
Off-duty police officer shot, killed in Detroit after firing at fellow officers