Australia men's national water polo team

Australia
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

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.

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
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1948	Group stages	17th	2	0	0	2
1952	Group stages	17th	2	0	0	2
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
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 Cup

1981 – 7th place^[2]
1985 – 7th place
1989 – 7th place
1991 – 7th place
1993 – Bronze medal
1999 – 8th place
2010 – 6th place
2014 – 5th place
2018 – Silver medal

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	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

Pietro Figlioli
Thomas Whalan
Nathan Thomas

References

^ "Games bid by Aust water polo team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 1971. p. 11.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "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

Official website

[1] "Games bid by Aust water polo team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 1971. p. 11.

[HistoFINA_PDF-2] "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.

[3] "2019 World Championships roster" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 July 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]