AUSTRALIAN 16&U WOMEN MAKING FINAL PREPARATIONS AHEAD OF WORLD AQUATICS WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Australian 16&U Women are making their final preparations ahead of the 2024 World Aquatics Women’s U16 Water Polo Championships taking place in Manisa, Turkey from Friday 28 June to Sunday 4 July.

The World Championships will see the top 24 teams in the world go head to head in the pool, with our Australian 16&U Women looking to make their mark on international debut.

“Ahead of the World Championships the girls and I are inevitably nervous but more excited to take on the challenge,” said player Abigail Oates.

“Spending the past couple weeks with each other has really helped to bring us together as a team, which has in turn allowed us to support one another better in and out of the pool and work as a collective.

While Oates and the team are hoping for a positive result from the World Championships, the international debutante notes that the team's goals are not centred wholly around the tangible outcome.

“We’re looking forward to the exposure to completely new water polo teams and countries, and can’t wait to (hopefully) come out with a really good result at the conclusion of the World Championships,” she said.

“We want to play as a team, work for each other, and execute some great plays together. 

“Truly, we can’t really know what to expect from these teams, having not faced any of them before, but we are expecting a challenge and know we will need to adapt and react to the different playing styles coming our way in order to achieve our goals and make the most out of this international opportunity,” said Oates.

Head Coach Georgina Kovacs-Muller says the team has been working incredibly hard in the lead up to the event, training and playing against teams they may come up against at the World Championships.

“We spent six valuable days working together with the Greek U16 National Team in Glyfada, where the focus has been equally shared between our own tactics and learning to adapt to their smart, structured style of play and fast decision making,” said Kovacs-Muller.

“Every day has a special memory with plenty of fun and challenging moments.

“Touring Europe as a young person, playing great water polo with close mates, learning the different styles of play and sporting cultures. Winning games and losing some, ultimately learning to deal with stressful situations, learning about themselves, to respect others, and learning what being part of a team really means. These are memories that will hopefully be cherished for the rest of their lives,” she said.

Every game of the World Aquatics Women’s U16 Water Polo Championships 2024 will be streamed LIVE and FREE on the World Aquatics Youtube Channel - click here.

The Aussies will play their first game against Turkey on Saturday 29 June at 3am AEST.

Click here for the full schedule.

AUSTRALIAN 16&U WOMEN’S DRAW

Saturday 29 June | 3am AEST | Australia v Turkey

Monday 1 July | 3am AEST | Australia v Turkey

AUSTRALIAN 16&U WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

Claudia Booth (UQ, QLD), Sara Connors (UQ, QLD), Zara Cooke (SNB Breakers, NSW), Caroline Healy (Melbourne Collegians, VIC), Amelie Hoefel (Mermaids, QLD), Georgia Joosep (Mermaids, QLD), Ali McCarthy (Polo Bears, QLD), Emmersen McEwan (Polo Bears, QLD), Kiera Mironova (Sydney Uni, NSW), Abigail Oates (Sydney Uni, NSW), Isabelle O'Connor (Polo Bears, QLD), Alannah Paul (SNB Breakers, NSW), Ellie Sefton (UQ, QLD), Lucy Stuart (Mermaids, QLD), Sienna Walker (Melville, WA)