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Senior Gahan an Aggressive Competitor

"Jen's very devoted," says team captain Suzanne M. Foley '94. "She wants to win, she wants to score. She's very competitive, she's got dirve and instinct."

Playing with the boys developed her "aggressive" style, Gahan says.

"I learned to be aggressive, or get squashed at Exeter," Gahan says. "But it worked against me, in that I find it hard to deal with women, especially women athletes. I've gotten better at understanding my teammates now, but I relate better to guys than to girls."

Outside the team, most of Gahan's friends are guys, she says. Her only other sibling is a brother, Chris, a sophomore at Brown, to whom she is "very close." And it is her father who comes to her games, armed with a video camera.

In her time as a varsity players, Gahan has garnered quite a few accolades. She was voted All-American as a freshman, All-East in her freshman, sophomore and junior year, and Most Valuable Player in her sophomore and junior year. Her success in water polo has carried her through the inevitable rough spots of her college experience, she says.

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"I definitely have had a love-hate relationship with Harvard," she says. "It's been an up-and-down thing. When I need to get away from my problems, water polo's my outlet."

But this year has been a good one for her, she says. She's pleased with the progress of the team, with the completion of her thesis, and is looking forward to the upcoming Easterns. And to prepare for it, Gahan is headed home, for time alone.

"I am a team player, but to get ready I need to be by myself," Gahan says. "I can't interact with other people--not my dad, my brother, or my boyfriend...I'll probably go running on the beach with my dog."

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