| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Governing body | Water Polo Australia |
| National team(s) | Australia |
National competitions | |
International competitions | |
Water polo in Australia is governed by Water Polo Australia and its state based Water polo associations.
Although the game was first launched in Great Britain in the 1860s, Australia was the second nation in the world to adopt and begin playing the sport of water polo. The first match known to have occurred in Australia was held at Hegarty's Railway Baths at St Kilda, Melbourne on 1 March 1879, [1] as demonstrated by Professor Fred Cavill. [2] The first domestic league in the country commenced with the Sydney Metropolitan premiership in 1892. [3] New South Wales played a pivotal role in the development of water polo in Australia.
The forerunner of the current national Water polo championship was the Australian Water Polo Club Championship, which was contested annually from 1975 until 1990 for men, and from 1984 until 2003 for women. [4]
Today, the Australian Water Polo League (AWL) is Australia’s premier domestic water polo competition. The AWL provides important competition opportunities for national squad members as well as the next generation of Australian water polo talent. It is a national competition, featuring teams from all states across Australia and international players often join teams competing in the League, which helps create a high quality competition.
The Australia men's national water polo team and Australia women's national water polo team represent Australia in international competitions. The inaugural Australian men's team was selected in 1907 and defeated New Zealand over a three match series at Lancaster Baths in Christchurch. [5] Since then Australian men's teams have competed at every Olympic Games Water Polo Tournament from their Olympic debut in London (1948), excepting Mexico City (1968-controversially not nominated by the AOC) and Atlanta (1996-did not qualify). Australia were the inaugural Olympic gold medallists at the first Women's Olympic Games Water Polo Tournament in Sydney (2000), and have since won an Olympic silver medal at Paris (2024), and two Olympic bronze medals at Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
The Water Polo Australia Hall of Fame was established by Water Polo Australia in 2009 to honour players, coaches and officials who have contributed greatly to water polo in Australia. [6]
Brenda Villa is an American accomplished water polo player. She is the most decorated athlete in the world of women’s water polo. Villa was named Female Water Polo Player of the Decade for 2000-2009 by the FINA Aquatics World Magazine. She is one of four female players who competed in water polo at four Olympics; and one of two female athletes who won four Olympic medals in water polo. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 31 goals. In 2018, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Tamás Kásás is a retired Hungarian water polo player.
Bridgette Marie Gusterson, also known as Bridgette Ireland, is an Australian water polo player, at the 1995 FINA World Cup, and from the gold medal team of the 2000 Summer Olympics. She was a captain of the team from 1997 to 2000. She is the sister of fellow Australian water polo player and Olympic teammate Danielle Woodhouse.
Nicolle Katherine Payne is an American water polo player. The goalkeeper was a member of the US teams that won the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Deborah Kathleen Watson is an Australian former water polo player. She has been regarded as one of the greatest female water polo players to ever play the game. She won gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in Madrid.
The history of water polo as a team sport began in mid 19th-century England and Scotland, where water sports were a feature of county fairs and festivals.
The Australia national women's water polo team represents Australia in women's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Water Polo Australia. It was one of the most successful women's water polo teams in the world. It is currently organised into the Asia/Oceania regional group.
Water Polo Australia (WPA) is the national governing body for Water Polo in Australia, headquartered in Sydney. WPA in its current form was formed in 1982, when it broke away from the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia (now Swimming Australia) to become the Australian Amateur Water Polo Association (AAWPA). Prior to that time, water polo was administered by a sub-committee of the ASUA. In January 1990 the AAWPA changed its name to 'Water Polo Australia Incorporated'.
The Australian Water Polo League is the premier Australian domestic water polo competition. The men's league was established in 1990 with the women's league following in 2004. The league is administered by Water Polo Australia, and is contested by eleven clubs, each fielding a women's and a men's team. As of 2024 five clubs are based in Sydney and one each in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Newcastle and Perth.
Glencora McGhie is an Australian water polo centre back/driver. She attended the Curtin University of Technology and is a dental therapist. She competes for the Fremantle Marlins in the Australian National Water Polo League, and was on sides that won the league championship in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. She has been a member of the Australia women's national water polo team on the junior and senior level. She has won gold medals at the 2011 Canada Cup and at the 2007 FINA Junior World Championships. She won silver medals at the 2010 FINA World League Super Finals and at the 2010 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup. She won a bronze medal at the 2009 FINA World League Super Finals. She was part of the Australian water polo team that won bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Zoe Arancini is an Australian water polo player who plays driver, counter-attacker, or outside shooter. She plays club water polo in the National Water Polo League for the Fremantle Marlins, where she has won the league championship in 2005, 2007 and 2008 and is coached by her mother. She has represented the country as a member of the Australia women's national water polo team on the junior and senior level, with over eighty appearances for national team between the two levels. She won a gold medal at the 2011 Canada Cup, silver medals at the 2010 FINA World League Super Finals and 2010 FINA World Cup, and bronze medals at the 2009 FINA World League Super Finals and 2011 FINA Junior World Championships. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Bronwen Knox is an Australian former water polo centre back/centre forward. She played for the National Water Polo League's Queensland Breakers before switching to the Victorian Tigers for the 2012 season. In 2013–14 season, she played for the Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in the European competitions, winning the LEN Trophy.
István Görgényi is a Hungarian former water polo player who won a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics and coached the Australian women's national water polo team to the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The Cavill family of Australia is known for its significant contributions to the development of the sport of swimming.
The West London Penguin Swimming and Water Polo Club is a British water polo and masters swimming Club with history dating back to 1916. It was formed in 1976 as the Hammersmith Penguin Swimming Club by the merger of the Hammersmith Ladies Swimming Club and Penguin Swimming Club (1921). It states its date of foundation as 1921.
Alexandra Hauka Nitta, usually referred to as "Sandra" or "Sandy" is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States in the 100-meter breaststroke as a 15-year-old at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Highly instrumental in the development and advancement of women's Water Polo in America, she had a forty-year career as a water polo coach, and administrator with an induction into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1998. In her longest coaching assignments, she was the US Women's National Team Water Polo coach from 1980 to 1994, and coached Team Vegas/Henderson from 1994 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2014, later serving as a Director.
Thomas H. Robinson served 35 years as Northwestern University's first swimming and diving coach from 1909 to 1944. During his coaching tenure, his teams won 10 Big Ten Conference Championships, and 6 NCAA Championships. With multiple responsibilities, his teams won seven water polo championships during his time at Northwestern, and he served briefly as basketball coach in 1919. He placed eleven of his swimmers, divers, and water polo players on Olympic teams, and was made a member of both the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965 and the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCAA) Hall of Fame.
Water polo is an international game, contested by over 120 countries, and with artistic swimming are the only Olympic team sports played in water. First introduced to the Olympic program at the 1900 Paris Games, water polo and rowing remain the only team sports to be continually programmed for every edition of the Summer Olympics.
