Australia men's national water polo team

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Australia national water polo team

Association: Australian Water Polo Incorperated
Coach: John Fox
Captain: Thomas Whalan
Most Caps: Thomas Whalan
Top Scorer: Pietro Figlioli
Ranking: 10th
Olympic Games Appearances: 13
Olympic Medals: None
World Championship Appearances: 12
World Championship Medals: 2(bronze)

The Australian national water polo team represents Australia in men's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Australian Water Polo Incorperated. The national men's team has the nickname of "The Sharks". It is currently organised into the Asia/Oceania regional group. The national team is currently sponsored by Qantas airlines, Turbo Water polo, Mikasa, Stanwell Corporation Limited, and Gold Coast City Council.

Contents

[edit] 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.

Australia did not achieve their first point in Olympic competition until they drew with Bulgaria in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

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

Australia's best international water polo success came in 1996, when the Shark's won the prestigious 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, the early success of 1996 was soured when they failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.

The late 1990's was a period of poor form and little success for The Sharks. A reinvigourated youthful team managed to finisg 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 a poor result at the 2007 FINA World Championships coach David Neesham was sacked. In April of 2007, John Fox took over as coach.

[edit] Olympic Record

Year Games Position
1948 1948 Summer Olympics, London, United Kingdom Eliminated in first round (lost 0-9 v Italy, lost 3-12 v Yugoslavia).
1952 1952 Summer Olympics, Helsinki, Finland Eliminated in first round (lost 2-10 v Yugoslavia, lost 0-6 v Austria).
1956 1956 Summer Olympics, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 9th (lost first-round matches 2-4 v Romania, lost 1-9 v Yugoslavia, lost 0-3 v USSR, won 3-2 v Singapore, lost 2-5 v Great Britain; lost 2-4 v Romania in losers' round).
1960 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome, Italy Eliminated in first round (lost 2-6 v Yugoslavia, lost 3-5 v Holland, lost 2-3 v South Africa).
1964 1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo, Japan Eliminated in first round (lost 0-6 v USSR, lost 1-3 v Germany).
1968 1968 Summer Olympics, Mexico City, Mexico Qualified but did not play.
1972 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich, West Germany (now Munich, Germany) 12th (drew 7-7 v Greece, drew 4-4 v Bulgaria, lost 2-10 v Hungary, lost 3-6 v West Germany, lost 4-8 v Spain, lost 2-4 v Holland, lost 5-6 v Cuba, lost 3-5 v Romania).
1976 1976 Summer Olympics, Montréal, Quebec, Canada 11th (won 8-2 v Iran, drew 4-4 v Mexico, lost 6-7 v Hungary, lost 3-4 v West Germany, lost 5-6 v Canada, lost 3-4 v Canada, lost 5-8 v Cuba, lost 2-7 v USSR).
1980 1980 Summer Olympics, Moscow, Soviet Union (now Moscow, Russia) 7th (won v Bulgaria 9-5, won v Bulgaria 8-5, won v Greece 4-2, won v Sweden 9-4, won v Italy 5-4, drew v Romania 4-4, lost v Cuba 4-6, lost v Yugoslavia 2-9).
1984 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, California, United States 5th
1988 1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul, South Korea 8th (lost 11-13 v West Germany, lost 4-11 v USSR, lost 5-7 v Italy, won 7-6 v France, won 13-2 v South Korea, won 8-7 v Spain, lost 5-12 v Hungary).
1992 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain 5th
1996 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta, Georgia, United States Did Not Qualify
2000 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 8th (lost 4-6 v Russia, drew 11-11 v Kazakhstan, won 11-6 v Slovakia, lost 5-6 v Italy, drew 7-7 v Spain, lost 3-7 v Yugoslavia, lost 4-8 v Italy, lost 8-10 v Croatia).
2004 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece 9th (won 14-3 v Egypt, lost 8-4 v Italy, lost 8-4 Spain, lost 10-9 Greece, drew Germany 6-6, won 10-5 Kazakhstan, lost 6-5 v USA, beat Croatia 8-7).
2008 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China
2012 2012 Summer Olympics, London, United Kingdom
2016 2016 Summer Olympics, undetermined

[edit] Honours

  • 1979 — did not compete
  • 1981 — 7th place
  • 1983 — did not compete
  • 1985 — 7th place
  • 1987 — did not compete
  • 1989 — 7th place
  • 1991 — 7th place
  • 1993 — 3rd place
  • 1995 — did not compete
  • 1997 — did not compete
  • 1999 — 8th place
  • 2002 — did not compete
  • 2006 — did not compete


  • 2002 — did not compete
  • 2003 — 7th place
  • 2004 — 7th place
  • 2005 — 11th place
  • 2006 — eliminated
  • 2007 — 3rd place


[edit] Current Squad

Name State Stats Position Club
DoB Height Weight
Luke Quinlivan Western Australia Western Australia August 20, 1985 192cm 100kg Goalkeeper UWA Torpedoes
James Stanton Western Australia Western Australia July 21, 1983 200cm 94kg Goalkeeper Fremantle Mariners/ Pamplona, Spain
Jamie Beadsworth Western Australia Western Australia June 11, 1985 193cm 108kg Centre Back/Centre Forward Fremantle Mariners
Sam McGregor New South Wales New South Wales August 12, 1984 192cm 104kg Centre Back University of Sydney/ Ondoretta, Spain
Robert Maitland Queensland Queensland September 4, 1983 190cm 98kg Centre Back University of Sydney/ Mediterani, Spain
Tim Neesham Western Australia Western Australia October 20, 1979 184cm 86kg Left Hand Catch Fremantle Mariners
Nick O'Halloran Western Australia Western Australia August 14, 1987 188cm 92kg Left Hand Catch Fremantle Mariners/ Mataro, Spain
Pietro Figlioli Queensland Queensland May 29, 1984 190cm 93kg Driver/Shooter Pro Recco, Italy
Trent Franklin New South Wales New South Wales February 12, 1979 184cm 85cm Driver/Shooter University of Sydney
Thomas Whalan New South Wales New South Wales October 13, 1980 194cm 90kg Outside Shooter/Centre Back University of Sydney/ Savonna, Italy
Ryan Moody Victoria Victoria October 20, 1977 197cm 110kg Centre Forward/Left Wing Melbourne Collegians
Anthony Martin Queensland Queensland March 22, 1985 192cm 94kg Utility KFC Queensland Breakers
Grant Richardson South Australia South Australia April 27, 1981 180cm 76kg Utility Adelaide Vikings
John Cotterill New South Wales New South Wales October 27, 1987 191cm 87kg Utility Wests Magpies/ Sant Andreu, Spain


Correct as of December 3, 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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