The Australian national water polo team represents Australia in men's international

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

competitions and is controlled by

Water Polo Australia Water Polo Australia (WPA), formerly Australian Water Polo (AWP), is the national governing body for Water polo in Australia. They are responsible for administration of the national men's, women's, and junior teams, the Australian National Wate ...

. 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

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in 1996, and although not achieving the success of European teams, has remained relatively competitive at international level since. In

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, the team qualified to compete at the Mexico Olympic Games, but was denied entry by the Australian Olympic Federation. Australia scored their first point in Olympic competition when they drew with

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in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

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. The Australian team placed 5th in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

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, and in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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, the highest Olympic placing so far, and finished 4th in the World Championships at home in

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in 1998. Australia's best international water polo success came in 1996, when the Sharks won the six-nation Control Cup in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, and followed it up with a bronze medal at an eight nation tournament in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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

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in an international tournament in

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in 2002, and in 2003, they beat then world champions

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

12–11 in a

FINA Water Polo World League The FINA Water Polo World League was an international water polo league organized by FINA, which plays annually, typically from winter through to June. League play featured continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerge ...

match in Hungary, and followed it up by beating

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10–6 at the 2003

Water polo world championship Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships is an international water polo tournament held every two years as part of the FINA World Aquatics Championships. The reigning champions are Spain in men's and the United States in women's competition. ...

in Barcelona, Spain. Australia finished 2nd at the

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, Germany. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, Australia surprisingly beat former champion

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. 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.

Tournament history

''A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Australia''

Olympic Games

World Championship

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

– 14th place *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

– 11th place * 1978 – 9th place * 1982 – 11th place *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

– 10th place *

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

– 8th place *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

– 10th place *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

– 4th place * 2001 – 10th place * 2003 – 7th place * 2005 – 10th place * 2007 – 10th place * 2009 – 10th place * 2011 – 9th place *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

– 8th place * 2015 – 8th place *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

– 7th place *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

– 6th place *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

– 11th place *

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

– 10th place

World Cup

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

– 7th place *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

– 7th place *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

– 7th place *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

– Bronze medal *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

– 8th place * 2010 – 6th place *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

– 5th place *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

– Silver medal

World League

* 2003 – 7th place * 2004 – 7th place * 2005 – 11th place * 2006 – 4th place * 2007 – Bronze medal *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– Bronze medal * 2009 – 6th place * 2010 – 4th place * 2011 – 6th place *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

– 7th place *

– 4th place * 2015 – 5th place *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

– 5th place *

– 7th place *

– 6th place *

– Bronze medal *

– 7th place

Commonwealth Championship

* 2002 – Silver medal * 2006 – Gold medal

Team

Current squad

Roster for the

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, will be held in Fukuoka, Japan, between 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021, the championships were postponed until May 2022 ...

. Head coach: Timothy Hamill *1 Nick Porter *2 Angus Lambie *3 George Ford *4 Charlie Negus *5 Nathan Power *6 Lachlan Edwards *7

Luke Pavillard People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

Matthew Byrnes Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

*9 Marcus Berehulak *10 Timothy Putt *11 Chaz Poot *12

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

*13 John Hedges * Reilly Townsend * Samuel Slobodien

Notable players

Pietro Figlioli Pietro Figlioli (born 29 May 1984) is an Italian water polo player. He competed for Australia at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and for Italy in 2012 and 2016 and won two medals for Italy. He also won the world title in 2011. In 2012 he received the ...

, 7x LEN Champions League winner * Tom Hoad AM *

Thomas Whalan Thomas Whalan (born 13 October 1980) is an Australian water polo player who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics, in the 2004 Summer Olympics (Vice-Captain), in the 2008 Summer Olympics (Captain) and in the 2012 Summer Olympics representing A ...

* Nathan Thomas * Aaron Younger, 4x LEN Champions League winner

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Australia Men's National Water Polo Team Men's national water polo teams

History

Tournament history

Olympic Games

World Championship

World Cup

World League

Commonwealth Championship

Team

Current squad

Notable players

See also

References

External links