Australia
FINA codeAUS
Nickname(s)Aussie Sharks[1]
AssociationWater Polo Australia
ConfederationOSA (Oceania)
Head coachTimothy Hamill
Asst coachVedran Ćirković
Andrew Yanitsas
CaptainBlake Edwards
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
Appearances20 (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

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.[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

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
France 2024 qualified
Total0 Titles18/28105301362

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 2023 World Aquatics Championships.[4]

Head coach: Timothy Hamill

Notable players

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 4 "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. ↑ "20th World Aquatics World Championships Men's Water Polo Team Roster AUS" (PDF). Omega Timing. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
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