| Australian national women's water polo team | |
| Association: | Australian Water Polo Incorporated |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): | Stingers |
| Coach: | Greg McFadden |
| Captain: | |
| Most Caps: | |
| Top Scorer: | |
| Ranking: | 2nd |
| Olympic Games Appearances: | 3 |
| Olympic Medals: | :1 :1 |
| World Championship Appearances: | 6 |
| World Championship Medals: | :1 :2 :1 |
The Australian national women's water polo team represents Australia in women's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Australian Water Polo Incorporated. It is currently organised into the Asia/Oceania regional group.
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The Australian women's water polo team played their first international in 1975. Since that time they have gone from strength to strength. Australia's women's team have often had to struggle with lack of funding, but despite that continued to perform credibly on the international stage.
Following 6th place at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, they won the women's Water polo World Cup at home in Sydney, Australia in 1995. In 1996, the women won the silver medal in the Olympic Year Tournament behind the Netherlands, then finished with bronze in the following year's World Cup in Nancy, France. Australia continued their successful mid-90's run by winning the bronze medal at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia, and remarkably over the rest of 1998 and 1999 were unbeatable, winning the four international tournaments they contested in the Netherlands, Italy, the United States and Hungary.
After an incredible 14 month winning streak, they only managed the silver at the 1999 world cup in Winnipeg, Canada.
Another success came in 1997 when it was announced that women's Water polo would be included in the Olympic Games for the first time at their home Olympics in Sydney.
Having had an excellent build up to the 2000 Summer Olympic Games at home in Sydney, the team went into the first Olympic tournament at home. They only lost won match to the powerful Dutch side in that historic campaign, on the way to winning the first ever women's Olympic Gold Medal in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
In an incredible Olympic final, the evenly matched US and Australian sides were tied 3-3 with 1.3 seconds remaining on the clock, when Yvette Higgins blasted in a nine-metre shot from a free throw. The ball crossed the goal-line .2s from the final hooter to give Australia a 4-3 win, and the gold medal.
The Australian team which won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics was composed of Naomi Castle, Jo Fox, Bridgette Gusterson (C), Simone Hankin, Kate Hooper, Yvette Higgins, Bronwyn Mayer, Gail Miller, Melissa Mills, Debbie Watson, Liz Weekes, Danielle Woodhouse, and Taryn Woods.
The team was brought back down to earth with an Olympic hangover in 2001, only managing 5th in the World Championships of that year. This dip in form was short lived, however, as they won the inaugural Commonwealth Water Polo Championships title in Manchester, England in 2002, beating world No 3 Canada 6-5 in the final.
The Australian women then suffered another lean patch, finishing 7th at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain, 4th at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, and 6th at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada.
The team returned to successful ways by taking the bronze at the 2005 FINA Water Polo World League event in Kirishi, Russia, and at the 2007 Water polo world championship in Melbourne, Australia by taking the silver medal, after losing a hard fought final 5-6 to the US team.
At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the team took the bronze medal after beating Hungary for 3rd place in a penalty shootout.
| Year | Games | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | Gold Medal (won 6-3 v Russia, lost 4-5 v Netherlands, won 7-6 v USA, won 9-4 v Canada, won 7-6 v Russia, won 4-3 v USA (gold medal match)) |
| 2004 | 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece | 4th (won 6-5 v Italy, lost 4-9 v Kazakhstan, tie 7-7 v Greece, lost 2-6 v Greece, lost 5-6 v USA (bronze medal match)). |
| 2008 | 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China | Bronze Medal (won 8-6 v Greece, tie 7-7 v Hungary, won 10-9 v Netherlands, won 12-11 v China, lost 9-8 v USA, won 8-8 with penalty shootout 4-3 v Hungary (bronze medal match)). |
| Name | State | Stats | Position | Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DoB | Height | Weight | ||||
| Alicia McCormack | New South Wales | 7 June 1983 | 168 cm | 77 kg | Goalkeeper | Cronulla Sharks |
| Emma Knox | Western Australia | 2 March 1978 | 173 cm | 72 kg | Goalkeeper | Challenge Comets |
| Bronwen Knox | Queensland | 16 April 1986 | 182 cm | 86 kg | Centre Back | KFC QLD Breakers |
| Mia Santoromito | New South Wales | 29 March 1985 | 169 cm | 80 kg | Centre Back | Cronulla |
| Gemma Beadsworth | Western Australia | 17 July 1987 | 180 cm | 80 kg | Centre Back & Centre Forward | Fremantle Marlins |
| Bec Rippon | New South Wales | 26 December 1978 | 167 cm | 71 kg | Driver/Counter Attack | Balmain Tigers |
| Kate Gynther | Queensland | 5 July 1982 | 174 cm | 73 kg | Driver | Brisbane Barracudas |
| Patrice O'Neill | New South Wales | 11 April 1987 | 174 cm | 66 kg | Driver | Cronulla |
| Suzie Fraser | Queensland | 27 August 1983 | 175 cm | 63 kg | Driver | KFC Queensland Breakers |
| Fiona Hammond | New South Wales | 10 May 1983 | 172 cm | 66 kg | Utility | Sydney University |
| Mel Rippon | Queensland | 20 January 1981 | 169 cm | 71 kg | Utility | Brisbane Barracudas |
| Taniele Gofers | New South Wales | 12 June 1985[1] | 183 cm | 80 kg | Centre Forward/Utility | Sydney University Lions |
| Nikita Cuffe | Queensland | 26 September 1979 | 179 cm | 75 kg | Centre Forward | Sydney University Lions |
| Erin Douglass | New South Wales | 4 November 1981 | 180 cm | 74 kg | Centre Forward | Cronulla |
Correct as of 20 April 2007.
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