AYWPC wrap | Day 9

As the spectacle of the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships continued throughout Brisbane, the 12&U and 16&U age divisions turned up the heat with many matches going down to the wire.

The 16&U Men’s and Women’s continued their cross over matches and in the 12&U Men’s began the first of their crossover games, while the 12&U Women’s continued with their round robin fixtures.

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In the 16&U Men’s division, Hunter Hurricanes B scored their second win of the tournament with an exciting last minute victory over Adelaide Stealth, 8-7.

Joseph Longergin scored the match winner and was ecstatic to help get his team another win on the board.

“I got a bit unlucky with the first shot just before that last one, but in the end I managed to sneak the second attempt in.

“I kind of changed my mind and wanted to suck the goalkeeper out, but it was great when I finally scored and won the game,” said Longergin.

As a frist time visitor to Brisbane, he was impressed with what the city offers.

“I haven’t been here before and I love it, has been such a great experience around the city.

“The goal for the rest of the week is to do the best we can, obviously the result has a big impact, but it’s all about developing and getting our skills up,” he said.

Split across Valley Pool and Somerville today, over thirty 16&U Women’s teams began to narrow their focus to Thursday’s finals.

Defending 16&U Women’s champions UTS Balmain Tigers alongside Sydney Uni Blue, AHS, Mermaids Pink, Triton, Drummoyne Devils, UNSW Wests Yellow and SNB Breakers are all looking very strong after the group stage.

The future of Australian water polo was again on show at Brisbane Aquatic Centre with score lines showing what an even competition we have on our hands.

UNSW Wests Magpies Tristan Lee said they had many opportunities to clinch the win against Sydney Uni Lions but will had to settle for the 3-3 draw.

“We were in front for the first half and then we stuttered and they caught up. If we held the ball a lot more and waited for the clock to wind down we could’ve won it, but it is what it is.

Speaking on the new Australian Youth Water Polo Championships Lee was excited to be part of the two-week water polo celebration.

“It’s really good fun, getting to know new people from Brisbane and playing teams that we’re not familiar with is great.

“Our goals are to stay in the top two in the pool and to hopefully get a medal,” he said.

While in the 12&U Women’s division, it was a showdown between local rivals Brisbane Girls Grammar School and All Hallows’.

Brisbane Girls field player Sophie Dwir is enjoying playing in her first national championships.

“I like water polo because I’ve never really done team sports before, being part of this team is really nice you make lots of new friends and I’m a really competitive person so it’s a good sport for that.”

“It’s been a cool event so far, it’s even better than what I imagined it would be like,” she said.

Dwir thinks the local knowledge and being familiar with the pools will help them at the end of the competition.

“Yeah I guess having it here in Brisbane is an advantage, I think it would’ve been pretty hard to fly here, but we only have to drive which is much easier,” she said.

Stay up to date with the latest news from pool deck in Brisbane when you follow us @WaterpoloAUs on social media and get involved using the #AYWPC.

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Don’t forget to make the most of your time in Brisbane and you could WIN the ultimate Aussie supporters pack using #AYWPCBrisbane - click here to download your FREE guide to Brisbane.

Our great friends at OVO will be live streaming all medal matches this Wednesday (12&U) and Thursday (16&U) on their FREE OVOPlay App – download it today in three simple steps.

Grab yourself a slice of AYWPC history and buy yourself something memorable. You can find the merchandise van out the front of the Brisbane Aquatic Centre and have a look at their shirts, backpacks, hats, jumpers and more. Check out their range online before you pop in - click here. They currently have a SPECIAL SHOWBAG OFFER, get sunglasses, matrix backsack, Triton drink bottle and a wristband keyring all for only $20 – that’s a saving of $33.