It was golden moment for the Santa Barbara water polo and sports community on Wednesday as they celebrated the homecoming of Olympic gold medalists Paige Hauschild and Jamie Neushul.

The local players of the gold-medal winning Team USA women’s water polo team shared their medals and Olympic experiences in Tokyo with family, friends, former high school and club teammates, coaches, parents and others at the downtown Santa Barbara M. Special Brewery.

It was probably the largest gathering of local water polo aficionados since the 2018 CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo final between San Marcos and Dos Pueblos at DP’s Elings Aquatic Center.

Neushul went to Dos Pueblos and Hauschild attended San Marcos.

“I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be part of a community like this and have so many people sending me text messages and videos of them staying up past 12:30, whatever it was, to watch my games,” said Hauschild of the outpouring of love and support. “It was the sweetest thing. I cried multiple times watching those videos and getting those messages, and it was very motivating. And it made me feel so special, and it was really awesome.”

Many of those people who sent the text messages and videos were in attendance Wednesday to congratulate Hauschild and Neushul and their parents — Peter and Kathy Neushul, and Dwayne and Jenni Hauschild.

Jamie Neushul was so thankful for the local support she’s received over the years.

“Santa Barbara is a big water polo community,” she said. “(My sister) Kiley went to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics (in 2016), Sami (Hill) went to Rio, Kami (Craig) went to Rio and London (and won gold medals). We’ve just produced good water polo players and it’s a testament to the people around us and how supportive this community is, and just what a beautiful community it is.

“So, this is super special to be here today with everyone and celebrate.”

Both local players scored goals in their first Olympics tournament. Hauschild totaled six goals and Neushul had one, helping Team USA win its third straight gold medal in women's water polo.

Neushul scored in an 18-5 win over the Russian Olympic Committee team in the final preliminary round game.

Asked about scoring in the biggest sporting event on the planet, Neushul said: “Honestly, in the moment it was kind of business as usual. It’s like, ‘OK, I gotta do my job. It’s my job to shoot right now and it’s on to the next (play).’

“It sunk in after the game. I was like, ‘Oh, that was super cool. Scored at the Olympics. Dream come true.’”

Hauschild said she wasn’t really thinking about scoring goals. But when she got the opportunities, she delivered. She finished with six goals in her Olympics debut, with her first one coming in the Team USA opener against Japan, a 25-4 victory. She scored in the first period to give the Americans a 3-1 lead.

“Going into the game, that wasn’t really something I was thinking about,” she said about scoring in the Olympics. “But once it happened  — and it happened pretty quick in the first quarter — I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s kind of a big deal.’ There were girls that went through the last Olympics that didn’t even score a goal the whole tournament. So, for me to be able to do that and to do it so early on, it was definitely exciting.”

Hauschild had a hat trick in the preliminary round win over the ROC and scored once in a victory over China.

She said the team got better as the tournament went on, and that the 10-9 preliminary round loss against Hungary just made Team USA stronger.

It was the Americans' first loss at the Olympics since the 2008 Games in London.

“We looked at the mistakes that we made and we realized that we weren’t playing like ourselves,” Hauschild said. “I think that was the kind of kick in the butt that we needed to motivate us for the rest of the tournament.”

She had an assist in the 14-5 gold-medal victory over Spain.

“An Olympic gold is something that so many people dream of, and to be able to actually have one around my neck at the end of the tournament with my teammates next to me, it meant the world,” said Hauschild.

“It’s something I’ve worked so hard for, and something me and my teammates have sacrificed so much for. Even my family has sacrificed so much as well. So, to be able to bring it home, especially bringing it home to Santa Barbara — my favorite place on Earth — it means the world.”