Australia women's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

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This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Australia women's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

The Australia women's national water polo team has participated in 5 of 5 official women's water polo tournaments.[1]

Abbreviations

Apps Appearances Rk Rank Ref Reference Cap No. Water polo cap number
Pos Playing position FP Field player GK Goalkeeper ISHOF International Swimming Hall of Fame
L/R Handedness L Left-handed R Right-handed Oly debut Olympic debut in water polo
(C) Captain p. page pp. pages

Team statistics

See also: National team appearances in the women's Olympic water polo tournament

Comprehensive results by tournament

Note: Results of Olympic qualification tournaments are not included. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend
  •  1st  – Champions
  •  2nd  – Runners-up
  •  3rd  – Third place
  •  4th  – Fourth place
  •  Q  – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
  •     – Hosts
Women's team[1] 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Years
 Australia 1st 4th 3rd 3rd 6th Q 6
Total teams 6 8 8 8 8 10

Number of appearances

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend
  • Year* – As host team
Women's team[1] Apps Record
streak		 Active
streak		 Debut Most
recent		 Best finish Confederation
 Australia 5 5 5 2000* 2016 Champions Oceania – OSA

Best finishes

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend
  • Year* – As host team
Women's team[1] Best finish Apps Confederation
 Australia Champions (2000*) 5 Oceania – OSA

Finishes in the top four

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend
  • Year* – As host team
Women's team[1] Total Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place First Last
 Australia 4 1 (2000*) 2 (2008, 2012) 1 (2004) 2000 2012

Medal table

Last updated: 16 October 2024.

Women's teamGoldSilverBronzeTotal
 Australia (AUS)1124

Player statistics

Multiple appearances

See also: List of players who have appeared in multiple women's Olympic water polo tournaments

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of four-time Olympians: 0
  • Number of three-time Olympians: 4
  • Last updated: 26 July 2021.
Legend
  •     – Hosts
Female athletes who competed in water polo at three or more Olympics
Apps Player Birth Pos Water polo tournaments Age of
first/last		 ISHOF
member		 Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
3 Melissa Rippon 1981 FP 2004 2008 2012 23/31 [2]
Kate Gynther 1982 FP 2004 2008 2012 22/30 [3]
Bronwen Knox 1986 FP 2008 2012 2016 22/30 [4]
Gemma Beadsworth 1987 FP 2008 2012 2016 21/29 [5]

Multiple medalists

See also: List of Olympic medalists in water polo (women)

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 0
  • Number of two-time Olympic medalists: 5
  • Last updated: 11 August 2021.
Legend
  •     – Hosts
Female athletes who won two or more Olympic medals in water polo
Rk Player Birth Height Pos Water polo tournaments Period
(age of
first/last)		 Medals Ref
1 2 3 4 5 G S B T
1 Gemma Beadsworth 1987 1.80 m
(5 ft 11 in)		 FP 2008 2012 2016 8 years
(21/29)		 0 0 2 2 [5]
Kate Gynther 1982 1.75 m
(5 ft 9 in)		 FP 2004 2008 2012 8 years
(22/30)		 0 0 2 2 [3]
Bronwen Knox 1986 1.82 m
(6 ft 0 in)		 FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 13 years
(22/35)		 0 0 2 2 [4]
Alicia McCormack 1983 1.68 m
(5 ft 6 in)		 GK 2008 2012 4 years
(25/29)		 0 0 2 2 [6]
Melissa Rippon 1981 1.69 m
(5 ft 7 in)		 FP 2004 2008 2012 8 years
(23/31)		 0 0 2 2 [2]

Top goalscorers

See also: List of women's Olympic water polo tournament top goalscorers

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of goalscorers (40+ goals): 0
  • Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 1
  • Number of goalscorers (20–29 goals): 4
  • Last updated: 1 April 2021.
Legend
  •     – Hosts
Female players with 20 or more goals at the Olympics
Rk Player Birth L/R Total
goals		 Water polo tournaments
(goals)		 Age of
first/last		 ISHOF
member		 Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
1 Kate Gynther 1982 Right 30 2004
(7)		 2008
(13)		 2012
(10)		 22/30 [7]
2 Ashleigh Southern 1992 Right 26 2012
(12)		 2016
(14)		 19/23 [8]
3 Rowena Webster 1987 Right 23 2012
(12)		 2016
(11)		 24/28 [9]
4 Gemma Beadsworth 1987 Right 20 2008
(9)		 2012
(10)		 2016
(1)		 21/29 [10]
Bronwen Knox 1986 Right 20 2008
(12)		 2012
(4)		 2016
(4)		 22/30 [11]

Source:

  • Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (p. 96), 2004 (pp. 56–57), 2008 (pp. 56–57), 2012 (pp. 347–348), 2016 (pp. 197–198).

Goalkeepers

See also: List of women's Olympic water polo tournament goalkeepers

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively.

Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend and abbreviation
  •     – Hosts
  • Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)
Year Cap
No.		 Goalkeeper Birth Age Saves Shots Eff % ISHOF
member		 Note Ref
2000 1 Liz Weekes 1971 29 21 46 45.7% Starting goalkeeper [12]
7 Danielle Woodhouse 1969 31 11 15 73.3% [13]
2004 1 Emma Knox 1978 26 12 26 42.9% [14]
11 Jemma Brownlow 1979 24 19 31 61.3% [15]
2008 1 Emma Knox (2) 1978 30 16 42 38.1% [14]
13 Alicia McCormack 1983 25 32 59 54.2% [6]
2012 1 Victoria Brown 1985 27 4 8 50.0% [16]
13 Alicia McCormack (2) 1983 29 40 93 43.0% Starting goalkeeper [6]
2016 1 Lea Yanitsas 1989 27 27 46 58.7% [17]
13 Kelsey Wakefield 1991 25 18 38 47.4% [18]
Year Cap
No.		 Goalkeeper Birth Age Saves Shots Eff % ISHOF
member		 Note Ref

Source:

  • Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (p. 96), 2004 (pp. 56–57), 2008 (pp. 56–57), 2012 (pp. 347–348), 2016 (pp. 197–198).

Top sprinters

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total sprints won (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the sprinter (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of sprinters (30+ sprints won): 1
  • Number of sprinters (20–29 sprints won): 0
  • Number of sprinters (10–19 sprints won): 1
  • Number of sprinters (5–9 sprints won): 2
  • Last updated: 15 May 2021.
Legend and abbreviation
  •     – Hosts
  • Eff % – Efficiency (Sprints won / Sprints contested)
Female players with 5 or more sprints won at the Olympics
Rk Sprinter Birth Total
sprints
won		 Total
sprints
contested		 Eff % Water polo tournaments
(sprints won / contested)		 Age of
first/last		 ISHOF
member		 Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
1 Kate Gynther 1982 39 58 67.2% 2004
(5/8)		 2008
(13/26)		 2012
(21/24)		 22/30 [3]
2 Melissa Mills 1973 14 15 93.3% 2000
(14/15)		 26/26 [19]
3 Nicola Zagame 1990 8 10 80.0% 2012
(4/4)		 2016
(4/6)		 22/25 [20]
4 Bronwyn Mayer 1974 6 11 54.5% 2000
(6/8)		 2004
(0/3)		 26/30 [21]

Source:

  • Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (p. 96), 2004 (pp. 56–57), 2008 (pp. 56–57), 2012 (pp. 347–348), 2016 (pp. 197–198).

Coach statistics

See also: List of women's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics § Coach statistics

Most successful coaches

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the coach (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Greg McFadden led Australia women's national team to win two consecutive Olympic bronze medals in 2008 and 2012.[22]

Legend
  •     – Hosts
Head coaches who led women's national teams to win two or more Olympic medals
Rk Head coach Nationality Birth Age Women's team Tournaments
(finish)		 Period Medals Ref
1 2 3 G S B T
1 Greg McFadden  Australia 1964 43–51  Australia 2008
(3rd)		 2012
(3rd)		 2016
(6th)		 8
years		 0 0 2 2 [23]
[22]

Medals as coach and player

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

With the Hungary men's national water polo team, István Görgényi won a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He was appointed head coach of the Australia women's national team in 1998. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he led the team to win the inaugural women's water polo gold medal.[24][25]

Legend
  • Year* – As host team
Rk Person Birth Height Player Head coach Total medals Ref
Age Men's team Pos Medal Age Women's team Medal G S B T
1 István Görgényi 1946 1.87 m
(6 ft 2 in)		 25  Hungary FP 1972 53  Australia 2000* 1 1 0 2 [24]
[25]

Olympic champions

See also: List of Olympic champions in women's water polo

2000 Summer Olympics

  • Edition of women's tournament: 1st
  • Host city: Australia Sydney, Australia
  • Number of participating teams: 6
  • Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
  • Champion:  Australia (1st title; 1st place in preliminary A group)
Match Round Date Cap
color		 Opponent Result Goals
for		 Goals
against		 Goals
diff.
Match 1/7 Preliminary round – Group A 16 September 2000   Blue  Kazakhstan Won 9 2 7
Match 2/7 Preliminary round – Group A 17 September 2000   White  Russia Won 6 3 3
Match 3/7 Preliminary round – Group A 18 September 2000   Blue  Netherlands Lost 4 5 -1
Match 4/7 Preliminary round – Group A 19 September 2000   Blue  United States Won 7 6 1
Match 5/7 Preliminary round – Group A 20 September 2000   Blue  Canada Won 9 4 5
Match 6/7 Semi-finals 22 September 2000   White  Russia Won 7 6 1
Match 7/7 Gold medal match 23 September 2000   White  United States Won 4 3 1
Total Matches played: 7 • Wins: 6 • Ties: 0 • Defeats: 1 • Win %: 85.7% 46 29 17

Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 103, 106, 108, 111, 115, 119, 121).

Roster
Cap
No.		 Player Pos L/R Height Weight Date of birth Age of
winning gold		 Oly
debut		 ISHOF
member
1 Liz Weekes GK R 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 68 kg (150 lb) 22 September 1971 29 years, 1 day Yes
2 Yvette Higgins FP R 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 5 January 1978 22 years, 262 days Yes
3 Gail Miller FP R 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 65 kg (143 lb) 30 November 1976 23 years, 298 days Yes
4 Naomi Castle FP R 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 72 kg (159 lb) 29 May 1974 26 years, 117 days Yes
5 Bronwyn Mayer FP R 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 65 kg (143 lb) 3 July 1974 26 years, 82 days Yes
6 Simone Hankin FP R 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 28 February 1973 27 years, 208 days Yes
7 Danielle Woodhouse GK R 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 68 kg (150 lb) 23 January 1969 31 years, 244 days Yes
8 Kate Hooper FP R 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 26 February 1978 22 years, 210 days Yes
9 Debbie Watson FP R 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 71 kg (157 lb) 28 September 1965 34 years, 361 days Yes 2008
10 Taryn Woods FP R 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 76 kg (168 lb) 12 August 1975 25 years, 42 days Yes
11 Bridgette Gusterson FP R 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 7 February 1973 27 years, 229 days Yes 2017
12 Joanne Fox FP L 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 72 kg (159 lb) 12 June 1979 21 years, 103 days Yes
13 Melissa Mills FP R 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 67 kg (148 lb) 26 December 1973 26 years, 272 days Yes
Average 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 71 kg (157 lb) 21 February 1974 26 years, 215 days
Coach István Görgényi 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 2 November 1946 53 years, 326 days

Note: Bridgette Gusterson and Danielle Woodhouse are sisters; Bronwyn Mayer and Taryn Woods are cousins.
Sources:

Abbreviation
  • MP – Matches played
  • G – Goals
  • Sh – Shots
  • AS – Assists
  • TF – Turnover fouls
  • ST – Steals
  • BL – Blocked shots
  • SP – Sprints
  • 20S – 20 seconds exclusion
  • Pen – Penalty
  • EX – Exclusion
Statistics
Cap
No.		 Player Pos MP Goals/Shots AS TF ST BL Sprints Personal fouls
G Sh % Won SP % 20S Pen EX
1 Liz Weekes GK 7 3
2 Yvette Higgins FP 7 8 18 44.4% 3 5 2 2
3 Gail Miller FP 7 2 4 50.0% 3 9 3 4 5 80.0% 3
4 Naomi Castle FP 7 3 22 13.6% 6 2 15 3 8
5 Bronwyn Mayer FP 7 6 11 54.5% 3 3 9 6 8 75.0% 3
6 Simone Hankin FP 7 4 18 22.2% 3 8 6 7
7 Danielle Woodhouse GK 7 1
8 Kate Hooper FP 7
9 Debbie Watson FP 7 3 10 30.0% 1 2 6 3 4
10 Taryn Woods FP 7 3 22 13.6% 1 1 4 10
11 Bridgette Gusterson FP 7 11 30 36.7% 6 4 3 3
12 Joanne Fox FP 7 2 10 20.0% 2 9 2 9
13 Melissa Mills FP 7 4 16 25.0% 5 1 5 1 14 15 93.3% 3
Total 7 46 161 28.6% 30 29 72 12 24 28 85.7% 52 0 0
Against 29 116 25.0% 12 43 50 10 4 28 14.3% 51 5 0
Cap
No.		 Player Pos Saves/Shots
Saves Shots %
1 Liz Weekes GK 21 46 45.7%
7 Danielle Woodhouse GK 11 15 73.3%
Total 32 61 52.5%

Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (p. 96).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Melissa Rippon". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Kate Gynther". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Bronwen Knox". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Gemma Beadsworth". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Alicia McCormack". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-08. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Kate Gynther". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Ashleigh Southern". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Rowena Webster". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Gemma Beadsworth". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Bronwen Knox". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Liz Weekes". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-08. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Danielle Woodhouse". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-04. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Emma Knox". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Jemma Brownlow". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Victoria Brown". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Lea Yanitsas". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Kelsey Wakefield". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-15. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Melissa Mills". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Nicola Zagame". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Bronwyn Mayer". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  22. ^ a b "Greg McFadden steps down as Head Coach". waterpoloaustralia.com.au. Water Polo Australia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Greg McFadden". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-03. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  24. ^ a b "István Görgényi". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2020-06-03. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Hall of Fame Inductees". waterpoloaustralia.com.au. Water Polo Australia. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 26 June 2020.

Sources

Official Results Books (IOC)

PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library:

PDF documents on the FINA website:

PDF documents in the Olympic World Library:

PDF documents on the International Olympic Committee website:

Official Reports (FINA)

PDF documents on the FINA website:

Official website (IOC)

Water polo on the International Olympic Committee website:

Olympedia

Water polo on the Olympedia website:

Sports Reference

Water polo on the Sports Reference website:

Todor66

Water polo on the Todor66 website:

ISHOF

International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) website: