Women’s water polo in Australia has had a strong and rich history since playing their first international game in 1975.

During the mid-late 1990’s, the Aussie Stingers went from strength to strength, first winning the Women’s World Cup in 1995 (Sydney) which was followed by numerous medal finishes over the next four years.

In 1997 it was announced that women’s water polo would be included in the Olympic programme, inaugurating at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The Stingers only lost one game to the Dutch, which saw them go up against an evenly matched Team USA in the final.

An extremely tightly contested game saw the scores locked at 3-3 with 1.3 seconds remaining on the clock, when Yvette Higgins managed to net a rocket shot from 9-metres off a free throw to propel the Aussie Stingers into the record books, winning the first ever Women’s Water Polo Olympic Gold Medal and become affectionately known as the ‘Golden Girls’.

Since then, the Stingers have gone on to see three more Olympic Bronze Medal matches, and walking away with two at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Rio 2016 saw the Aussies finish in 6th place, after a devastating loss in the quarter finals at the hands of Hungry in a penalty shootout.

Tokyo 2020 is now in their sights under the direction of new head coach Sakis Kechagias who was appointed in February 2017 following the announcement that Greg McFadden would be stepping down after 12 years at the helm.

Currently, the Aussie Stingers gearing up to host China for a two game test match series at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) this weekend with both games at 7pm on Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 August.

These test matches will be a great opportunity for both teams ahead of the Women’s World Cup in September, which will be taking place in Russia.

For more information on water polo visit www.waterpoloaustralia.com.au and on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaterPoloAus/

Instagram: @waterpoloaus

Twitter: @WaterpoloAus