The Australian Women’s Water Polo team earned a clean sweep of its three Test series with China in Perth after recording a 13-10 win at Bicton Pool on Tuesday evening.
The series win has delivered the strong start to the Olympic year that the team had hoped for, with China considered one of the top five nations in the world.
It was the first international hit-out for the Stingers in 2016, with Head Coach Greg McFadden saying it was a good start but there is plenty to do before Rio.
“We certainly learnt a fair bit about ourselves and the areas we need to improve if we want to be a serious medal contender,” he started.
“I thought our second game of the China test series was by far our best as we were more consistent in that. The first and third games we played some fantastic water polo but we could not keep up with the intensity and some silly errors.”
“Our consistency remains the area we need to improve on. We are making progress as we prepare for Rio, but there is still a long way to go. The Olympics are not won in January and we just plan on improving each week,” he said.
The Aussie Stingers have a full schedule ahead as they head home with their National Water Polo League Clubs for round seven this weekend, before departing for USA for the FINA Women’s World League Tournament from 16-21 February where they will face Brazil, Canada, China, Japan and USA.
“We are looking forward to seeing where we are mentally and physically against the other teams. This will also give us another gauge on what we need to continue to improve on ahead of Rio,” McFadden said.
Australia earlier, had defeated China 14-9 and 10-5 in matches played at the UWA Aquatic Centre
The Stingers’ Olympic squad contains WAIS scholarship athletes Gemma Beadsworth, Glencora McGhie, Zoe Arancini and Lilian Hedges.
The Stingers’ final Rio squad is expected to be named in mid-June.
-with WaterPoloAus
