COUNTDOWN HEATS UP TO 2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN JAPAN

Published Tue 11 Jul 2023

The 2023 World Aquatics Championships gets underway in Fukuoka, Japan this week, offering Australia’s divers and water polo teams their first opportunity to qualify quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The World Aquatics Championships gets underway on 14 July through until 30 July.

The top two men’s and women’s water polo teams will qualify for the Paris 2024 Games, with additional chances to qualify through Continental Championships and next year’s 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have their sights firmly set on a top four finish at the World Championships, which they are hoping will set them up nicely for next year’s Paris Olympics.

Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers captain and dual Olympian Zoe Arancini has been playing for her country since 2009, with more than 290 caps to her name. While Arancini is no stranger to the pressure cooker environment of the World Championships, she says she still gets excited for every opportunity to pull on the green and gold.

“I’m grateful for every moment and every game I’m able to play with the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers,” Arancini said.

“That excitement to be able to go away to another World Champs…you don’t lose that, if anything you just get hungrier for it. The goal for us at this World Championships is to play our game…and a big factor in that is playing consistent water polo.

“We want to be fast, we want to be aggressive and play the game style that we want to play,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Sharks selected a great mix of youth and experienced players for the 2023 World Championships campaign.

Tokyo Olympians and co-captains Blake Edwards and Nathan Power will headline the team that features five Olympians and four World Championships debutants.

“We want to win every game that we play. If we put our best foot forward, we can compete with anyone in the world,” Edwards said.

“We’ve gone from a really inexperienced but youthful team, to a team that I think is going to really challenge some teams.

“I’m just really excited now to see how we go at the World Championships, and even more excited obviously for the Olympics in Paris next year,” he said.

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