Local pair making a splash

A PAIR of water polo players are ready to make a splash when they represent Victoria for the very first time.

Geelong Marlins’ Katie Parnell and Isla Anderson, who are both 15-years-old, will be competing at the National State Championships for water polo later this month in Canberra.

The event will bring together players from all over the country for five days of fierce competition.

It was a love of netball and swimming that inspired Isla to try her hand at water polo. She’s eager to see her efforts in training translate to a strong performance in the pool.

“We’ve put in a lot of work over the last few weeks, and we are hoping for some good results,” Isla said.

For Katie, it was a family connection to the sport that got her into the water, with both her father and uncle having played water polo for many years.

“I had an idea to get it started and have a go at it… I didn’t really want to play at the start funnily enough, but now I love it and really enjoy it,” she said.

She’s expecting some tough competition, and the nerves are already setting in.

“We’ve both been playing for about four years and the dream is to play in the Olympics one day,” she said.

Both players are looking forward to meeting and connecting with their fellow competitors from across the state.

“We are both bottom age of the division, so we don’t really know many of the players, so we hope to create some new friends,” Katie said.