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Brittany Waters flew home from the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England to present the final project in her master’s degree in occupational therapy at the University of British Columbia.

Then she jetted back to the tournament.

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“I was literally home for four hours,” Waters recalled. “I was happy that I could get back to the (World Cup) games as soon as possible. It was definitely hard on the body — the flight.

“But at that time it was what I had to do in order to balance both my career and may athletic career.”

The 34-year-old Waters, who also played in the 2014 and ’17 World Cups and 2009 and ’13 Sevens World Cups, has announced her retirement from rugby.

But she continues with the sport in her role as coach of the University of Victoria women’s team. And the Vancouver native continues as an occupational therapist.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” she said in an interview Thursday. “I can’t believe it has been 16 years. It doesn’t seem that long at all. And five World Cups.