Sophie Smith (born 26 February 1986 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Queensland) is an Australian

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player. Her position of choice is centre back/drive. She has played for the Victorian Tigers and the Queensland Breakers in the National Water Polo League. She has represented Australia in water polo on the junior and senior level, winning a bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 2005 FINA Junior World Championships and at the 2010 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup.

Personal life

Smith was born on 26 February 1986 in

. She attended the

Brisbane Girls Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing without labour , address = Gregory Terrace , city = Spring Hill , state = Queensland , postcode = 4000 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent secondary d ...

. In 2005, she was living in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. She attended

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

in New York on a water polo scholarship. Smith is a student at the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

, where she is completing a degree part-time in

Bachelor of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univer ...

with a focus on fashion design. She has a job working for Kim Ring, a Brisbane stylist, and does work as a styling assistant and make up artist.

Water polo

Smith is a centre back/driver and prefers to wear cap number 3. She started playing water polo as a thirteen-year-old while at the

Brisbane Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , established = 1868 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = , key_people = , ci ...

Club water polo

Smith currently plays club water polo for the

Queensland Breakers The Queensland Breakers is an Australian club water polo team that competes in the Australian National Water Polo League, National Water Polo League. They have a men's team and a women's team and are based in Brisbane. References External ...

in the National Water Polo League, and was with the team for their 2009 season. She has also played for the

Brisbane Barracudas The Brisbane Barracudas is an Australian club water polo team that competes in the National Water Polo League. They have a men's team and a women's team and are based in Brisbane. See also *Australian National Water Polo League The Au ...

, and was on the 2008 squad. The annual match between KFC Breakers and Barracudas is one the Courier Mail considers a grudge match. She participated in the 2008 edition with her team. In 2012, she played for the Victorian Tigers. She has also played club polo in the United States and Italy. She played water polo on the university level for Hartwick College. In 2008, Smith played for an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

team.

Junior national team

Smith has represented Australia on the junior national level. In 2004, she was a member of the team that toured Europe in July and August. She was part of the Australian junior national team that competed at the 2005 World Junior Championships held in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The team beat Greece 10-4 for the bronze medal game. The team's only loss in the tournament was a 4–5 loss to the United States.

Senior national team

Smith is a member of the Australian Stingers, having always wanted to get on the team. Her first major international competition was the

2009 FINA World Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Smith was a member of the Stingers squad that competed at the 2010 FINA World Cup in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. In Australia's semi-final victory over Russia, she fouled out. In May 2010, she was a member of the team that competed at the

FINA World League FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

Asia-Oceania zone held in

Osaka, Japan is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third most populous city in Ja ...

and

Tianjin, China Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popula ...

. In 2011, she was one of five Queensland women to compete for the Australians Stingers at the

competition held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. In July the same year, she was a member of the Australian Stingers that competed in the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai. In preparation for this tournament, she attended a team training camp in

. She competed in the Pan Pacific Championships in January 2012 for the Australian Barbarians. In February 2012, she was named to the final training squad for the

, and as such, will attend a training camp starting on 20 February 2012 at the

. She was selected to compete at the 2012 Olympics. She was part of the Stingers squad that competed in a five-game test against Great Britain at the AIS in late February 2012. This was the team's first matches against Great Britain's national team in six years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sophie 1986 births Living people Australian female water polo players Sportswomen from Queensland Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Hartwick Hawks athletes Queensland University of Technology alumni Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia in water polo Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Articles containing video clips Sportspeople from Brisbane Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate water polo players People educated at Brisbane Girls Grammar School