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.
 | |
| FINA code | AUS |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Sharks |
| Association | Water Polo Australia |
| Confederation | OSA (Oceania) |
| Head coach | Elvis Fatović |
| Asst coach | Dean Kontlc Paul Oberman |
| Captain | Aaron Younger |
| FINA ranking (since 2008) | |
| Current | 7 (as of February 2020) |
| Highest | 7 (2012, 2018, 2019) |
| Lowest | 9 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016) |
| Olympic Games | |
| Appearances | 16 (first in 1948) |
| Best result | 5th place (1984, 1992) |
| World Championship | |
| Appearances | 18 (first in 1973) |
| Best result | 4th place (1998) |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 9 (first in 1981) |
| Best result |  (2018) |
| World League | |
| Appearances | 16 (first in 2003) |
| Best result |  (2007, 2008, 2019) |
| Commonwealth Championship | |
| Appearances | 2 (first in 2002) |
| Best result |  (2006) |
| Media | |
| Website | waterpoloaustralia.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.[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.
Tournament history
A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Australia
Olympic Games
| Olympic Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year[2] | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | |||
 1900 |
Did not participate | ||||||||
 1904 | |||||||||
 1908 | |||||||||
 1912 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1920 | |||||||||
| 1924 | |||||||||
 1928 | |||||||||
| 1932 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1936 | |||||||||
| 1948 |
Group stages | 17th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
 1952 |
Group stages | 17th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1956 |
Group stages | 9th | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |||
 1960 |
Group stages | 15th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
 1964 |
Group stages | 12th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
 1968 |
Qualified but did not compete | ||||||||
 1972 |
Group stages | 12th | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1976 |
Group stages | 11th | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
 1980 |
Group stages | 7th | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 1984 |
Final Group stages | 5th | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
 1988 |
Group stages | 8th | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |||
 1992 |
Group stages | 5th | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 1996 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2000 |
Group stages | 8th | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||
 2004 |
Group stages | 9th | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
 2008 |
Group stages | 8th | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 2012 |
Quarter-finals | 7th | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |||
 2016 |
Group stage | 9th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 2020 |
Qualified | ||||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 17/27 | 100 | 28 | 13 | 59 | |||
World Championship
- 1973 – 14th place[2]
- 1975 – 11th place
- 1978 – 9th place
- 1982 – 11th place
- 1986 – 10th place
- 1991 – 8th place
- 1994 – 10th place
- 1998 – 4th place
- 2001 – 10th place
- 2003 – 7th place
- 2005 – 10th place
- 2007 – 10th place
- 2009 – 10th place
- 2011 – 9th place
- 2013 – 8th place
- 2015 – 8th place
- 2017 – 7th place
- 2019 – 6th place
World League
- 2002 – Did not participate[2]
- 2003 – 7th place
- 2004 – 7th place
- 2005 – 11th place
- 2006 – 4th place
- 2007 – Bronze medal
- 2008 – Bronze medal
- 2009 – 6th place
- 2010 – 4th place
- 2011 – 6th place
- 2012 – 7th place
- 2013 – Did not participate
- 2014 – 4th place
- 2015 – 5th place
- 2016 – 5th place
- 2017 – 7th place
- 2018 – 6th place
- 2019 – Bronze medal
Commonwealth Championship
- 2002 – Silver medal
- 2006 – Gold medal
- 2014 – Did not participate
Team
Current squad
Roster for the 2019 World Championships.[3]
Head coach: Elvis Fatović
| № | Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | L/R | Date of birth | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joel Dennerley | GK | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | R | 25 June 1987 | UNSW Wests Magpies | |
| 2 | Richard Campbell | FP | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | 18 September 1987 | |||
| 3 | George Ford | CB | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | R | 24 February 1993 | UWA Torpedoes | |
| 4 | Joe Kayes | CF | 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) | R | 3 January 1991 | ACU Cronulla Sharks | |
| 5 | Nathan Power | CB | 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) | R | 13 February 1993 | UNSW Wests Magpies | |
| 6 | Lachlan Edwards | CF | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | R | 6 February 1995 | USC Trojans | |
| 7 | Aidan Roach | FP | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | R | 7 September 1990 | Drummoyne Devils | |
| 8 | Aaron Younger (C) | CB | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | R | 25 September 1991 | Fremantle Mariners | |
| 9 | Henry Moore | FP | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | R | 21 April 1995 | UWA Torpedoes | |
| 10 | Timothy Putt | FP | R | 6 November 1998 | |||
| 11 | Rhys Howden | FP | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | R | 2 April 1987 | Brisbane Barracudas | |
| 12 | Joshua Galpin | FP | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | L | 12 March 1998 | Flinders Rangers | |
| 13 | Jack Lange | GK | L | 15 March 1998 | Flinders Rangers |
Notable players
References
- "Games bid by Aust water polo team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 1971. p. 11.
- "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- "2019 World Championships roster" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
External links
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