WAIS Water Polo Athletes Earn National Selection
Following the completion of the NWPL for 2013, WAIS athletes have earned selection on national team training camps for the men’s senior team and the women’s junior world championships.
New Australian men’s water polo coach Elvis Fatovic has named an 18-man squad containing a mix of youth and experience for the Aussie Sharks’ next training camp in Sydney.
WAIS athletes George Ford, Edward Slade and Joel Swift all received invitations for the intense four-day camp that begins on May 23 and is considered an important step in the team’s preparations for the FINA World Championships that begin in Barcelona in July.
Fatovic said there was no doubt the camp was an important part of Australia’s preparations for the major tournament of the year and even beyond.
“This camp is the beginning of preparations for the World Championships in Barcelona,” Fatovic said.
“It is very important for the players to complete their training program at the (SIS/SAS) institutes because it will benefit them for their future development as elite athletes.
“At this camp our training program will focus on functional motor abilities and adaption of technical and tactical solution.
“It is very important that we start to create a good atmosphere at the beginning of our road to Rio.
“Each quality player in the national squad is very important for our preparations for the Olympics and each player has a chance to be part of the team, however it is important to have consistency in playing for the national squad.”
While the Aussie Stingers will be plying their trade at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona in July, Australia’s next crop of stars will be eying off their own crowning moment when they finalise preparations for the 2013 FINA World Junior Championships.
Coached by London Olympic assistant Ryan Moar, the Australian Born 1993 Junior National team will be hoping to improve upon Australia’s third place finish at the 2011 world championships, when they head to Volos, Greece in August.
The squad of 17, which was announced by Moar following the conclusion of Sunday’s National Water Polo League finals, features three members from the 2011 bronze medal winning team, plus a handful of girls from the 2012 FINA World Youth Championships in Perth.
Moar, who has the enviable task of grooming some of Australia’s best young talent for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, said he was excited by the wealth of players available to him and believed it was a shame that certain girls had to miss out.
“With the FINA World Junior Championships looming the squad has been cut down and some very good players were unlucky not to make the cut,” Moar said.
“The players that have been successful in being selected are now under pressure to prove themselves against each other for myself and assistant coach, Tim Hamill.”
The squad, which includes representatives from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, will come together for a post-National League training camp starting this week in Sydney, before embarking on training camps and lead up tournaments in Hungary and Greece.
WAIS athletes Lillian Hedges, Jessica Zimmerman and Cathryn Earl all made selection for the Australian touring team.
– Water Polo Australia