Tri-State tournament a splashing success

KARDINIA Aquatic Centre enjoyed a hive of activity last weekend as the region’s best young water polo talent went head-to-head in the junior Tri-State championships.

Hosted annually by the Geelong Marlins, a tournament-high 55 teams entered in this edition, featuring sides from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

Marlins junior co-ordinator Deb Johnson said that the weekend was a great success.

“It was amazing, everything went well, the pool management was great.

“The weather was quite warm on Saturday which definitely helped.”

Whilst Geelong failed to reach any gold medal matches, Johnson said all teams still had great fun and took plenty away from facing quality opposition.

“The scores didn’t indicate how well our kids played, but they were up against some very, very tough competition.

“Everyone improved, there was some incredible team bonding on display.

“We had a few kids from other teams that came to play with us because their clubs had excess players, so they came across and got on exceptionally well.”

With the weekend being the Marlins’ marquee event of the year, Johnson thanked all involved at the club for their enormous efforts.

“The tournament wouldn’t have been so successful without all our amazing volunteers, who put in a mammoth amount of hours over the weekend and worked tirelessly with smiles on their faces the whole time.

“And the amount of comments we’ve had from clubs saying how much they enjoy the tournament is great. We’ve got teams already booking accommodation for next year!”

Johnson also credited The Geelong College for hosting the under-16 girls matches, as pools were entirely full at Kardinia Park.

“We just don’t have enough pool space to accommodate everyone, we had to knock back so many teams, so we really appreciate their help.”