Water Polo athletes to benefit from AOC funding boost after World Cup success

Australia's men's and women's water polo players will benefit from the Australian Olympic Committee’s (AOC) Medal Incentive Funding program after both teams finished on the podium at the 2018 FINA World Cup.

The athletes will personally receive a timely financial boost in their Tokyo 2020 preparations with water polo 1 of 17 summer Olympic disciplines to receive a share of the $2.375 million based on medal results in 2018.

With the Aussie Sharks claiming their first ever World Cup silver medal, and the Aussie Stingers taking out the bronze medal, players will now receive a funding courtesy of the AOC Medal Incentive Funding.

Under a framework agreed with sporting national federations, the AOC program provides support directly to athletes based on medal results at international benchmark events - for Water Polo Australia, this was the World Cup.

Water Polo Australia (WPA) High Performance Manager, Aleksandr Osadchuk, said the AOC Medal Incentive Funding is positive news for athletes who will receive the funding directly from the AOC for their Tokyo 2020 campaign.

"Water Polo Australia was very pleased when we reached our benchmark results at the 2018 FINA World Cups with both our teams taking home medals," said Osadchuk.

"For our men's program in particular, this was a culmination of years of hard work that has gone into the overall men's program and to claim the team's first ever silver medal at at World Cup, demonstrates where the squad is at internationally.

"The AOC Medal Incentive funding is a great reward for those athletes and their hard work, but more importantly, it provides players with additional funding to help them continue to prepare for Tokyo 2020.

"With the majority of our athletes juggling work and study commitments along with their Olympic aspirations, funding such as this is a big help and we thank the Australian Olympic Committee for their continued support," he said.

Winning 18 gold, 19 silver and 20 bronze across Tokyo 2020 disciplines in benchmark events in 2018 has Australia ranked 5^th in the world, behind only USA, China, Japan and Russia, based on performances from the designated events.

AOC CEO Matt Carroll said the funding was essential to help elite athletes train and prepare for the next Olympics.

“Australian athletes are working tirelessly as they build towards Tokyo 2020 and the AOC’s Medal Incentive Funding will assist in their preparation,” Carroll said.

“Investing in athletes helps ensure athletes and sports are positioned to give the Games their best shot.”

“This funding, which is provided by the AOC on top of athletes’ other funding sources, will have a meaningful impact on athletes and allow them to continue to focus on achieving their Olympic dreams.”

Tokyo 2020 Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman said the impressive results are a good indication that Australian athletes are positioning themselves well for the year ahead.

“Full credit to our athletes who performed at a very high level throughout 2018,” Chesterman said. “Fifty-seven medals across 17 sports confirms that the athletes are tracking well just 18 months out from the Tokyo Olympics.

“Of course, everyone knows that competitors from many countries will step up as the Games get closer, but our athletes and our sports should take heart from showing they are capable of producing world class performances in the lead up to the 2020 Games and they deserve every encouragement.

Click here for a full list of Medal Incentive Funding eligible athletes for 2019.