Juniors make the big time

Making their first Aussie Sharks team and joining Cronulla's Lena Mihailovic in the Aussie Stingers team are three Sutherland Shire male athletes who have been competing with each other since they were juniors.

Burraneer's Angus Lambie and Engadine's Rhys Holden both played for the Cronulla Water Polo team as schoolboys, winning the 2010 and 2014 Australian Championships together in the Sharks club colours.

Yowie Bays Chaz Poot who now plays for Sydney Uni was a member of the Junior World Champs team in 2016 and has been a part of the NSWIS squad for many years.

They have all come from the grassroots of the Sutherland Shire Water Polo Association - the junior system that runs from Sutherland Pool on a Saturday afternoon.

Angus now plays alongside Rhys for UNSW's affiliated water polo team, Wests Magpies ,where they also won the 2019 OVO Australian Water Polo League together.

Angus said the team had been training in Sabadell, a 40 minute ride outside of Barcelona.

"The local club has allowed us to use their training facilities as we prepare on our own for world champs. This week we will train with the Spanish national team in the lead up to world champs in Hungary.

"Our first game is against Kazakhstan on Tuesday."

The FINA World Championships will give the new look Aussie Sharks and Stingers squads the chance to compete with the best as they continue to build towards the 2024 Olympic Games.

Sutherland Shire Water Polo Association President, Michael Wirth said this is now the perfect time to give water polo a try, as they are focussing on development leading into the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.

"After the 2012 London Olympics and having a local junior, Nicola Zagame representing - we had a boom in the popularity of the sport."

SSWPA young guns Rex Palazzi, Tristan Glanznig, Jack Winchester, Rory McKell, Tom Rathbone and Brooke Mclean have also been chosen for representative honours in 2022.