Marlins shooting goals ahead of Tri State tourney

ONE of the largest water polo events in the country will descend on Kardinia Park this weekend with hundreds of athletes attending following an extraordinary month of success for Geelong’s only water polo club.

State and club representatives at Geelong Marlins Water Polo have a lot to be happy about following major successes at the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships and Polo by the Pier in recent weeks.

In addition, Geelong Marlins was awarded the ADF Good Sports National Junior Club of 2022, a national award open to every single sporting club in the country.

Under 16 athletes Josh Hirst, Isaac Macpherson and Harry Talbot took home gold medals in the former tournament, while Darcy Brice, Lewis Brice, Jack Copland, Jake Reilly, and Anthony Ducci earned the win at the latter.

For Talbot, winning at the national championship was a first for Geelong Marlins and provided tremendous momentum moving forward.

“It was a lot of our first times bringing home hardware, which was a great feeling,” he said.

“Especially against teams which had not faced before, it was great for us but also the club, because as a club we hadn’t had success at that level before, which is important.”

For Geelong’s junior athletes, however, they have their eyes set on the Tri State Junior Water Polo Tournament, the largest regional junior water polo tournament in Victoria, held at Kardinia Park’s aquatic complex from February 18-19.

Geelong Marlins president Bec Talbot said preparations for the Tri State tournament are extensive, with more than 500 competitors from 45 teams expected to arrive for the two-day event.

Water polo players in Mixed 12s, Under 14 Boys, Under 14 Girls, Under 16 Boys and Under 16 Girls will travel from regional Victoria, regional NSW, Tasmania, and Metro Melbourne to participate, 60 of whom will be Geelong Marlins athletes.

“It’s by far the biggest tournament of the year for the club,” Ms Talbot said.

“We get to showcase the best of what we have to offer as a club, and it has been really great to reconnect the region coming out of the pandemic from Geelong to the Bellarine to the Surf Coast.

“We’re extremely excited to be back up and running, the community environment with all of the age groups back together again, it’s really great to see after some difficult years.”

The Tri State Junior Water Polo Tournament is open to members of the public. Admission is a one-off $5 gate fee, which will go towards the ongoing development of Junior Water Polo in Geelong.

Action begins at 8am on both days, concluding at 8pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.

Kardinia Park is set to host this year’s Tri State Junior Water Polo Tournament this weekend featuring 500 junior players.