Australia men's national water polo team

Australia
Nickname(s) Sharks
Association Australian Water Polo
Confederation OSA (Oceania)
Head coach Elvis Fatović
Asst coach Paul Oberman
Christopher Wybrow
Captain Rhys Howden
FINA code AUS
Olympic Games
Appearances 16 (first in 1948)
Best result 5th place (1984, 1992)
World Championships
Appearances 16 (first in 1973)
Best result 4th place (1998)
World League
Appearances 6 (first in 2003)
Best result 3rd, bronze medalist(s) (2007, 2008)
World Cup
Appearances 6 (first in 1981)
Best result 3rd, bronze medalist(s) (1993)
Commonwealth Championship
Appearances 2 (first in 2002)
Best result 1st, gold medalist(s) (2006)

The Australian national water polo team represents Australia in men's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Australian Water Polo Inc. The national men's team has the nickname of "The Sharks". It is organised into the Asia/Oceania regional group. The national team is sponsored by Qantas airlines, Turbo Water polo and Mikasa Sports.

History

Australia has competed internationally since the 1948 London Olympic Games, and has qualified for all subsequent Olympic tournaments except Atlanta in 1996, and although not achieving the success of European teams, has remained relatively competitive at international level since.

In 1968, the team qualified to compete at the Mexico Olympic Games, but was denied entry by the Australian Olympic Federation.[1]

Australia scored their first point in Olympic competition when they drew with Bulgaria in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

The Australian team placed 5th in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the highest Olympic placing so far, and finished 4th in the World Championships at home in Perth in 1998.

Australia's best international water polo success came in 1996, when the Sharks won the six-nation Control Cup in Hungary, and followed it up with a bronze medal at an eight nation tournament in Italy in the same year. However, they failed to qualify for that year's Olympics for the first time since 1948.

A reinvigorated youthful team managed to finish second to Canada in an international tournament in England in 2002, and in 2003, they beat then world champions Serbia 12–11 in a FINA Water Polo World League match in Hungary, and followed it up by beating Croatia 10–6 at the 2003 Water polo world championship in Barcelona, Spain.

Following the 2007 FINA World Championships John Fox took over as Head coach.

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Australia

Summer Olympics

Olympics Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D L
France 1900 Did not participate
United States 1904
United Kingdom 1908
Sweden 1912
Belgium 1920
France 1924
Netherlands 1928
United States 1932
Germany 1936
United Kingdom 1948 Group Stages 17th 2 0 0 2
Finland 1952 Group Stages 17th 2 0 0 2
Australia 1956 Group Stages 9th 6 1 0 5
Italy 1960 Group Stages 15th 3 0 0 3
Japan 1964 Group Stages 12th 2 0 0 2
Mexico 1968 Qualified but did not compete
Germany 1972 Group Stages 12th 9 0 2 7
Canada 1976 Group Stages 11th 8 1 1 6
Soviet Union 1980 Group Stages 7th 8 5 1 2
United States 1984 Final Group Stages 5th 8 2 2 4
South Korea 1988 Group Stages 8th 8 3 0 5
Spain 1992 Group Stages 5th 8 4 2 2
United States 1996 Did not qualify
Australia 2000 Group Stages 8th 8 1 2 5
Greece 2004 Group Stages 9th 8 3 1 4
China 2008 Group Stages 8th 7 3 1 3
United Kingdom 2012 Quarterfinals 7th 8 3 0 5
Brazil 2016 Group stage 9th 5 2 1 2
Total0 Titles16/27100281359

World Championship

FINA World Cup

FINA World League

Team

Current squad

The following is the Australian roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2] Nathan Power was originally named, but was replaced by Tyler Martin after injuring his hand during a pre-games training camp in Croatia.[3]

Head coach: Croatia Elvis Fatović

№ Name Pos. Height Weight Date of birth 2016 club
1 Dennerley, JoelJoel Dennerley GK 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)91 kg (201 lb) 25 June 1987Australia UNSW Wests Magpies
2 Campbell, RichieRichie Campbell CB 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)99 kg (218 lb) 28 September 1987Australia UNSW Wests Magpies
3 Ford, GeorgeGeorge Ford CB 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)95 kg (209 lb) 24 February 1993Australia UWA Torpedoes
4 Cotterill, JohnnoJohnno Cotterill D 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)88 kg (194 lb)27 October 1987Australia Sydney University Lions
5 Martin, TylerTyler Martin CF 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)108 kg (238 lb) 13 February 1993Australia UNSW Wests Magpies
6 Gilchrist, JarrodJarrod Gilchrist D 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)90 kg (198 lb) 13 June 1990Australia UNSW Wests Magpies
7 Roach, AidanAidan Roach D 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)88 kg (194 lb) 7 September 1990Australia Drummoyne Devils
8 Younger, AaronAaron Younger D 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)100 kg (220 lb) 25 September 1991Hungary Szolnoki Dózsa
9 Swift, JoelJoel Swift D 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)103 kg (227 lb) 14 June 1990Australia Fremantle Mariners
10 Kayes, JoeJoe Kayes CF 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)125 kg (276 lb) 3 January 1991Australia Cronulla Sharks
11 Howden, RhysRhys Howden D 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)84 kg (185 lb) 2 April 1987Australia Brisbane Barracudas
12 Emery, MitchellMitchell Emery D 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)89 kg (196 lb) 27 September 1990Australia Drummoyne Devils
13 Stanton, JamesJames Stanton GK 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)93 kg (205 lb) 21 July 1983Australia Victorian Seals

Notable players

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Games bid by Aust water polo team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 1971. p. 11.
  2. ↑ "Men's Water Polo Team look to make history at Rio". Australian Olympic Committee. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Games 2016: Water polo player Nathan Power injured". 27 July 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.