Tumua Anae’s last television appearance was a group interview in London for the Today show. Her U.S. women’s water polo team had just won its elusive first Olympic gold medal. She hopes her next appearance will be on her own TV show in Hawaii.

Tumua, older sister Jordan and mother Annabel are pitching a show to local stations called "AnEye 4 AnEye Sports Challenge," about professional and elite Hawaii athletes. It is designed to "educate, expose and inspire" Hawaii athletes, according to Annabel, an audiologist who moved back here with her husband, Allen, a year ago and is still regretting the sale of their Kailua home nearly 20 years earlier.

Mom, who is related to the Sullivan family of Foodland fame, will be the show’s producer. Both girls — born here but raised in Southern California — are on camera. The former USC water polo teammates will be extremely active in the show.

It is in their genes. Their father is from Laie and played football for his father, Famika, at Kahuku. He also played basketball at Brigham Young-Hawaii and met Annabel at BYU — where his brothers played football —before going to medical school at the University of Hawaii.

He moved to California for his residency and stuck around until a position finally opened up here. Allen has been a surgeon at Straub Hospital the last year, with the exception of a four-month tour to Iraq to fulfill an Army Reserve obligation.

Tumua and Jordan, whose husband is Indianapolis Colts’ defensive tackle Fili Moala, hope the show will get them back to Hawaii before the end of the year.

"Everybody," Tumua says, "wants to come home."

Adds Annabel: "They will make their way back. It took us 19 years. They grew up living with and respecting the ocean. This is where they want to be."

Tumua’s Olympic experience was more emotional than most, if that’s possible.

A cousin, who had arranged a family reunion in London, died before the Games started. Her last wish was to watch Tumua play. Less than two days after seeing Tumua in a game in Corona Del Mar, Calif., she passed away. An aunt died soon after the Games.

The London family reunion was cut in half, to 13, but the experience was enhanced in a way only those grieving can understand.

"We went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs," Annabel said.

Tumua remembers the weight of all the moments hitting her on the podium, with her family close by.

"The situation was hard for us," she recalled, "so it made it more reflective for me. … I was really able to enjoy the moment."

Soon after the Games, Tumua was back at her lifeguarding job in Corona del Mar, then here. Now she is headed to Utah to see her boyfriend. She has a degree from USC to go with three All-America awards, an NCAA championship, one MPSF Player of the Year honor and a school-record 714 saves.

She will be 24 next month — five years younger than Betsey Armstrong, the world’s finest women’s goalie who played every moment of all six heart-stopping Olympic matches. Anae knew she might never get in the pool and prepared herself. She wistfully wishes she could have jumped in at least once, but there is no disappointment.

"I did not spend a second in the pool, but to be around that team and that spirit is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she insists. "I said I’d have no regrets if I didn’t play and I didn’t. I felt like part of it and it was such a close team."

So close her parents sat next to the Armstrong family at every white-knuckle match. The Americans went 2-0-1 in the preliminary round, winning by a goal twice and tying Spain. After beating Italy 9-6, their semifinal win over Australia came in overtime. They outlasted Spain in the championship, 8-5, to fulfill a dream that had been short-circuited at their sport’s first three Olympics.

In 2008, the U.S. lost the gold medal to the Netherlands in the final 30 seconds. Four years earlier, Team USA got bronze after a tough semifinal loss. In the 2000 women’s water polo debut, the Australians scored with 0.2 showing to grab gold over the Americans.

Anae is not sure if Armstrong will be back, but does acknowledge finally winning gold could shake up a relatively veteran team that had two players who had gone to all four Games. Anae is pretty sure she is up for one more four-year challenge.

"For me, I love the sport and it has given me so many opportunities," she says. "I think two (Olympics) is a good number."