Australia men's national water polo team

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

Australia
FINA codeAUS
Nickname(s)Aussie Sharks[1]
AssociationWater Polo Australia
ConfederationOSA (Oceania)
Head coachTim Hamill
Asst coachDean Kontlc
Paul Oberman
CaptainAaron Younger
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current11 (as of 9 August 2021)
Highest7 (2012)
Lowest11 (2016, 2021)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances16 (first in 1948)
Best result5th place (1984, 1992)
World Championship
Appearances18 (first in 1973)
Best result4th place (1998)
World Cup
Appearances9 (first in 1981)
Best result2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2018)
World League
Appearances17 (first in 2003)
Best result3rd place, bronze medalist(s) (2007, 2008, 2019)
Commonwealth Championship
Appearances2 (first in 2002)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2006)
Media
Websitewaterpoloaustralia.com.au

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.[2]

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.

Australia finished 2nd at the 2018 World Cup in Berlin, Germany.[1]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Australia surprisingly beat former champion Croatia. Yet, the Australians were not to able progress through to the quarter finals, but still managed to clinch two wins out of their five games.[1]

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Australia

Olympic Games
Main article: Australia men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
Olympic Games record
Year[3] 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 Quarter-finals 7th 8 3 0 5
Brazil 2016 Group stage 9th 5 2 1 2
Japan 2020 Group stage 9th 5 2 0 3
Total0 Titles17/27105301362

World Championship

World Cup

World League

Commonwealth Championship
  • 2002 – 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver medal
  • 2006 – 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold medal

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Head coach: Croatia Elvis Fatović[4]

No. Player Pos. L/R Height Weight Date of birth (age) Apps OG/
Goals		 Club Ref
1 Anthony Hrysanthos 10GK 2R (1995-11-28)28 November 1995 (aged 25) 70 0/0 Australia Sydney University Lions [5]
2 Richie Campbell 20CB 2R 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 99 kg (218 lb) (1987-09-18)18 September 1987 (aged 33) 287 3/23 Australia UNSW Wests Magpies [6]
3 George Ford 20CB 2R 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) (1993-02-24)24 February 1993 (aged 28) 132 1/1 Australia Sydney University Lions [7]
4 Goran Tomasevic 40CF 2R (1990-06-21)21 June 1990 (aged 31) 0 0/0 Australia Sydney University Lions [8]
5 Nathan Power 20CB 2R 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 104 kg (229 lb) (1993-02-13)13 February 1993 (aged 28) 164 0/0 Australia UNSW Wests Magpies [9]
6 Lachlan Edwards 50D 2R 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) (1995-02-06)6 February 1995 (aged 26) 79 0/0 Australia Drummoyne Devils [10]
7 Aidan Roach 50D 2R 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 88 kg (194 lb) (1990-09-07)7 September 1990 (aged 30) 192 2/6 Australia Drummoyne Devils [11]
8 Aaron Younger (C) 50D 2R 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 100 kg (220 lb) (1991-09-25)25 September 1991 (aged 29) 199 2/9 Italy Pro Recco [12]
9 Andrew Ford 50D 2R 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) (1995-04-21)21 April 1995 (aged 26) 75 0/0 Australia UNSW Wests Magpies [13]
10 Timothy Putt 20CB 2R (1998-11-06)6 November 1998 (aged 22) 70 0/0 Australia UNSW Wests Magpies [14]
11 Rhys Howden 50D 2R 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 84 kg (185 lb) (1987-04-02)2 April 1987 (aged 34) 234 3/14 Australia Queensland Thunder [15]
12 Blake Edwards 40CF 2R 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) (1992-02-14)14 February 1992 (aged 29) 94 0/0 Australia Drummoyne Devils [16]
13 Joel Dennerley 10GK 2R 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 91 kg (201 lb) (1987-06-25)25 June 1987 (aged 34) 151 2/0 Australia UNSW Wests Magpies [17]
Average 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 29 years, 123 days 134

Note: Age as of 23 July 2021
Source: Australia Men | Tokyo 2020 Olympics Archived 2021-07-22 at the Wayback Machine

Notable players

See also

References
  1. Swimming to success: Q&A with the Australian men’s water polo goalie Anthony Hrysanthos Marianna Alepidis (Neos Kosmos), 16 August 2021. Accessed 13 September 2021.
  2. "Games bid by Aust water polo team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 1971. p. 11.
  3. "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. "FATOVIC Elvis". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  5. "HRYSANTHOS Anthony". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  6. "CAMPBELL Richard". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  7. "FORD George". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  8. "TOMASEVIC Goran". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  9. "POWER Nathan". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  10. "EDWARDS Lachlan Robert". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. "ROACH Aidan". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  12. "YOUNGER Aaron". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  13. "FORD Andrew". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  14. "PUTT Timothy Francis". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  15. "HOWDEN Rhys". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  16. "EDWARDS Blake". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  17. "DENNERLEY Joel". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
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