The Australia national women's water polo team represents Australia in women's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Water Polo Australia. It was one of the most successful women's water polo teams in the world. It is currently organised into the Asia/Oceania regional group.

History

The Australia women's water polo team played their first international in 1975. Later, they received 6th place at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy. The next year, 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 mid-1990s run by winning the bronze medal at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth. They continued with four international tournaments wins and other close finished in the Netherlands, Italy, the United States and Hungary throught 1998 and 1999.

After an 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 2000 Summer Olympics.

Having had an build up to the Sydney 2000, the team went into the first Olympic tournament at home. They lost one match to the Dutch side in that historic campaign, on the way to winning their inaugural women's Olympic gold medal in front of their home crowd.

In the Olympic final, the US and Australia sides were tied 3–3 with 1.3 seconds remaining on the clock, when Yvette Higgins completed a nine-metre shot from a free throw. The ball crossed the goal-line 0.2s from the final hooter to give Australia a 4–3 win, and the gold medal.

The Australia gold team medalists were: 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 then had little Olympic success 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.

Australia then suffered another patch, finishing 7th at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain, 4th at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and 6th at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The team then took the bronze award 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 5–6 to the US team.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, the team took the bronze medal after beating Hungary for 3rd place in a penalty shootout.

Olympic record YearGamesPosition 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)). 2012 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Great Britain Bronze medal (won 10–8 v Italy, won 16–3 v Great Britain, won 11–8 v Russia, won 16–16 with penalty shootout 4–2 v China, lost 9–11 v USA, won 13–11 after overtime v Hungary (bronze medal match)). 2016 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th (won 14–4 Russia, lost 7–8 Italy, won 11–3 v Brazil, lost 8–8 Hungary on penalty shootout, won 11–4 Brazil, lost 10–12 Spain (5th–6th playoff) 2024 2024 Summer Olympics, Paris, France Silver medal (won 7–4 China, won 15–14 Netherlands on penalty shootout, won 10–7 Canada, won 14–12 Hungary on penalty shootout, won 9–6 Greece, won 14–13 United on penalty shootout (semi-final), lost 9–11 Spain (final)

Honours Water polo at the Summer Olympics:

Gold medal 2000 Sydney Olympics Silver medal 2024 Paris Olympics Bronze medal 2008 Beijing Olympics Bronze medal 2012 London Olympics

World Championships:

Gold medal 1986 Madrid Silver medal 2007 Melbourne Silver medal 2013 Barcelona Bronze medal 1998 Perth Bronze medal 2019 Gwangju

FINA World Cup:

Gold medal 1984 Los Angeles Gold medal 1995 Sydney Gold medal 2006 Tianjin Silver medal 1991 Long Beach Silver medal 1999 Winnipeg Silver medal 2010 Christchurch Silver medal 2014 Khanty-Mansiysk Bronze medal 1979 Merced, California Bronze medal 1981 Brisbane Bronze medal 1983 Quebec City Bronze medal 1997 Nancy Bronze medal 2026 Sydney

Commonwealth Water Polo Championships: Gold medal Manchester 2002 Gold medal Perth 2006

Results Olympic Games

2000 – 1st place 2004 – 4th place 2008 – 3rd place 2012 – 3rd place 2016 – 6th place 2020 – 5th place 2024 – 2nd place

Olympic Year Tournament 1996 – 2nd place

World Championship

1986 – 1st place 1991 – 5th place 1994 – 6th place 1998 – 3rd place 2001 – 5th place 2003 – 7th place 2005 – 6th place 2007 – 2nd place 2009 – 6th place 2011 – 5th place 2013 – 2nd place 2015 – 4th place 2017 – 8th place 2019 – 3rd place 2022 – 6th place 2023 – 4th place 2024 – 6th place 2025 – 6th place

World Cup

1979 – 3rd place 1980 – 4th place 1981 – 3rd place 1983 – 3rd place 1984 – 1st place 1988 – 5th place 1989 – 5th place 1991 – 2nd place 1993 – 4th place 1995 – 1st place 1997 – 3rd place 1999 – 2nd place 2002 – 6th place 2006 – 1st place 2010 – 2nd place 2014 – 2nd place 2018 – 3rd place 2025 – 5th place 2026 – 3rd place

World League

2004 – 7th place 2005 – 3rd place 2006 – 4th place 2007 – 2nd place 2008 – 3rd place 2009 – 3rd place 2010 – 2nd place 2011 – 3rd place 2012 – 2nd place 2013 – 7th place 2014 – 3rd place 2015 – 2nd place 2016 – 3rd place 2017 – 7th place 2018 – 7th place 2019 – 5th place 2022 – 6th place

Commonwealth Championship

2002 – Gold medal 2006 – Gold medal

Holiday Cup

1998 – 1st place 1999 – 1st place 2000 – 3rd place 2003 – 4th place 2006 – 3rd place 2007 – 5th place

Team Current squad Roster for the 2025 World Championships.

Head coach: Rebecca Rippon

1 Gabriella Palm 2 Hayley Ballesty 3 Tenealle Fasala 4 Bronte Halligan 5 Sienna Green 6 Abby Andrews 7 Charlize Andrews 8 Sienna Hearn 9 Pippa Pedley 10 Alice Williams 11 Matilda Kearns 12 Danijela Jackvoch 13 Genevieve Longman 14 Alexie Lambert 15 Olivia Mitchell

Former squads

1984 FINA World Cup – Gold medal Kerri Cain, Lisa Copeland, Debbie Handley, Amanda Leeson, Jackie Northam, Katie McAdams, Wendy Meloncelli, Kerry Mills, Sandy Mills, Cathy Parkers, Janet Rayner, Julie Sheperd, and Debbie Watson. 1986 World Championship – Gold medal Judy Gair, Debbie Handley, Amanda Leeson, Katie McAdams, Megan Meloncelli, Wendy Meloncelli, Lynne Morrison, Sandy Mills, Jackie Northam, Cathy Parkers, Janet Rayner, Julie Sheperd, and Debbie Watson. 1995 FINA World Cup – Gold medal Naomi Castle, Loris Darvill, Kylie English, Claire Finucane, Bridgette Gusterson, Yvette Higgins, Bronwyn Mayer, Stephanie Neesham, Debbie Watson, Liz Weekes, Sharan Wheelock, Danielle Woodhouse, and Taryn Woods. 1998 World Championship – Bronze medal Naomi Castle, Simone Dixon, Kylie English, Bridgette Gusterson, Yvette Higgins, Bronwyn Mayer, Melissa Mills, Stephanie Neesham, Marian Taylor, Liz Weekes, Sharan Wheelock, Danielle Woodhouse, and Taryn Woods. 2000 Summer Olympics – Gold medal Naomi Castle, Joanne Fox, Bridgette Gusterson, Simone Hankin, Yvette Higgins, Kate Hooper, Bronwyn Mayer, Gail Miller, Melissa Mills, Debbie Watson, Liz Weekes, Danielle Woodhouse, and Taryn Woods. Head Coach: István Görgényi. 2003 World Championship – 7th place Emma Knox, Rebecca Rippon, Nikita Cuffe, Naomi Castle, Bronwyn Smith, Jemma Brownlow, Jodie Stuhmcke, Kate Gynther, Elise Norwood, Taryn Woods, Melissa Rippon, Joanne Fox, and Melissa Byram. Head Coach: István Görgényi. 2004 Summer Olympics – 4th place Belinda Brooks, Jemma Brownlow, Naomi Castle, Nikita Cuffe, Joanne Fox, Kate Gynther, Kelly Heuchan, Emma Knox, Elise Norwood, Melissa Rippon, Rebecca Rippon, Bronwyn Smith, and Jodie Stuhmcke. 2005 FINA World League – Bronze medal Victoria Brown, Nikita Cuffe, Erin Douglass, Taniele Gofers, Kate Gynther, Fiona Hammond, Alicia McCormack (goal), Kelly Miller, Elise Norwood, Patrice O'Neill, Melissa Rippon (goal), Rebecca Rippon, and Mia Santoromito. 2006 FINA World League – 4th place Gemma Beadsworth, Nicole Dyson, Suzie Fraser, Kate Gynther, Fiona Hammond, Bronwen Knox, Alicia McCormack (goal), Jane Moran, Patrice O'Neill, Melissa Rippon (goal), Rebecca Rippon, Mia Santoromito, and Sophie Smith. Head Coach: Greg McFadden. 2007 World Championship Silver medal Gemma Beadsworth, Nikita Cuffe, Hadley Gemma, Taniele Gofers, Kate Gynther, Amy Hetzel, Bronwen Knox, Emma Knox, Alicia McCormack, Melissa Rippon, Rebecca Rippon, and Mia Santoromito. Head Coach: Greg McFadden. 2007 FINA World League – Silver medal Lea Barta, Victoria Brown, Jemma Dessauvagie, Erin Douglas, Katie Finucane, Suzie Fraser, Kate Gynther, Gemma Hadley, Fiona Hammond, Jane Moran, Melissa Rippon, Mia Santoromito, and Larissa Webster. Head Coach: Greg McFadden. 2007 Holiday Cup – 5th place Victoria Brown, Nikita Cuffe, Katie Finucane, Kate Gynther, Fiona Hammond, Bronwen Knox, Alicia McCormack, Sarah Mills, Jane Moran, Melissa Rippon, Rebecca Rippon, Jenna Santoromito, Mia Santoromito, and Sophie Smith. Head Coach: Greg McFadden. 2008 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal Gemma Beadsworth, Nikita Cuffe, Suzie Fraser, Taniele Gofers, Kate Gynther, Amy Hetzel, Bronwen Knox, Emma Knox, Alicia McCormack, Melissa Rippon, Rebecca Rippon, Jenna Santoromito, and Mia Santoromito. Head Coach: Greg McFadden.

Under-20 team Australia's women have won two titles at the FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships.Russia after fourth title at FINA World Women's Junior Water Polo Championship Owen Lloyd (Inside the Games), 9 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.

See also Australia women's Olympic water polo team records and statistics Australia men's national water polo team List of Olympic champions in women's water polo List of women's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics List of world champions in women's water polo

References

External links