2024 AUSTRALIAN YOUTH WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS COMES TO A STUNNING CLOSE IN BRISBANE

After more than 800 games and two epic weeks of water polo action, the 2024 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships has come to a stunning close in Brisbane.

Teams from right across the country, as well as New Zealand and the USA, made the trip to Brisbane for the fifth edition of the annual event.

Across the two weeks, more than 210 teams, 3000 athletes and 28,000 specators took part in the largest festival of water polo in the southern hemisphere.

Water Polo Australia CEO Tim Welsford said: “It’s the end of two weeks here in Brisbane and there have been so many highlights. 212 teams from all corners of our country and also some international teams.

“No doubt for me, the highlight has been seeing so many smiles on faces. Thank you to everyone who has come here to the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships.

“We’ve also had an enormous amount of referees, delegates, table officials that have supported this event, this doesn’t happen without them, and we really thank them for their time and contribution.

“Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) and Tourism Events Queensland (TEQ) have also been unbelievable in their support of this event. We love being here and it’s a fantastic event, and it couldn’t happen without them,” he said.

To watch all the highlights of today’s medal matches - click here

For full results from today's 12&U and 16&U finals - click here

12&U GIRLS | MERMAIDS PINK 7 d ALL HALLOWS BLUE 3

It was a home-town battle in the 12&U Girls gold medal match with Brisbane-based teams Mermaids Pink and All Hallows School Blue facing off for the Championship title.

Mermaids Pink claimed an early lead scoring two-points to nil in the first quarter, continuing their lead throughout the game despite three quality goals from All Hallows Blue in the second quarter.

Mermaids’ Mara Hoefel and Julie Joosep were thrilled with their team's performance.

“Coming back after last year, we did better than we ever have before and I think we all played really great in that game,” said Hoefel.

“We’ve loved meeting people from other states and playing against them, the AYC is the best tournament ever, we had a lot of fun,” she said.

“It was great seeing how other teams play and what their techniques are,” added Joosep.

“It felt really good. It feels nice to be the champions.”

12&U BOYS | SYDNEY UNI LIONS BLUE 7 d SNB BREAKERS 3

New South Wales teams starred in the 12&U Boys final, with Sydney Uni Lions Blue and SNB Breakers both leaving nothing to chance.

Sydney Uni Lions Blue scored in the opening minute of the game, adding another goal to their tally in the opening seconds of the second quarter. 

A persistent SNB Breakers team brought the goal difference back to one in the dying seconds before half time, before the Sydney Uni Lions sealed the deal scoring five goals to two in the second half.

For Championship first-timers Oscar Hale and Jake Winder, the win was a fantastic way to end a great week.

"It's been a really fun experience, swimming in the pool with our friends and playing these big games with our friends, it's been great,” said Hale.

"The win meant a lot to us today cause we tried really hard every game,” said Winder.

"It's been really great and fun to travel here with the team, I think I've built a better connection with my friends,” he said.

16&U GIRLS | MERMAIDS PINK 11 d SNB BREAKERS 8

Having each supported an 12&U team from their club in earlier finals, the 16&U Girls from Mermaids Pink and SNB Breakers were both ready for their turn to leave it all in the pool come midday.

A huge first half saw thirteen goals scored across both teams, with the goal difference set at just one in favour of the SNB Breakers at half-time.

A valiant effort from Mermaids saw them claim the title for the second time today, with another five goals recorded on the score sheet in the third and fourth quarters.

Lucy Stuart scored five of the 11 Mermaids goals, and was stoked to come away with the win in front of a home crowd.

“It was amazing to win in-front of such a loud crowd today, the atmosphere was so great and all the cheering just made us fight for our colours even harder,” said Stuart.

“I feel like we’ve made the Mermaids proud today. It’s so important to us to represent all the girls that came before us as well as the club in general, so I’m really proud of all the girls.

“It also meant a lot to us to play in Brisbane and especially at Yeronga pool earlier in the week. That’s our home pool, so it was a really fun experience,” she finished.
 

16&U BOYS | SNB BREAKERS 8 d UQ BARRAS 5

It was a red hot 16&U Boys grand final, with Queensland’s UQ Barras going head-to-head with NSW’s SNB Breakers.

At half time, the scores were locked at 2-2, with Oliver Moncur (UQ Barras), Taoso Taoso (UQ Barras), Charlie Lewcock (SNB Breakers) and Lachlan Davies (SNB Breakers) all adding their names to the scorecard. 

It was a goalless second quarter, before both teams went on to score another three goals each in the third quarter, and the scores locked at 5-5 at three quarter time.

In the fourth quarter, it was the visitors who rose to the occasion, SNB Breakers scoring three goals to win the game 8-5.

SNB teammates Alex Woolfe and Lachlan Davies said they were stoked with the result of today’s gold medal match, and also loved the experience of being back in Brisbane at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships.

“It felt really rewarding, and we put so much effort into this, weeks of work finally paying off, it feels awesome. It’s been the best time of our lives,” Davies said.

“It was amazing to have so much support today, it definitely helped us a lot and we wouldn't have won without them,” Woolfe said.