UNSW-Wests water polo players Amy Ridge, Bronte Halligan, debutant Hayley Ballesty and their Australian teammates have won the women’s gold medal at the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru.
UNSW-Wests water polo players Amy Ridge, Bronte Halligan, debutant Hayley Ballesty and their Australian teammates have won the women’s gold medal at the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru.
The Australian Stingers went through undefeated with Halligan named the tournament’s Most Valuable Female Player.
Fellow Tokyo Olympian Ridge earned Player of the Match for her performance in the penultimate, 33-1 win over Columbia. The gold medal was decided by number of matches won.
For Ballesty – in her second year of a Landscape Architecture degree – the tournament also marked her national debut, earning selection for the first time after earning a sport in the train-on squad for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Ballesty and Ridge are both part of the 2022 UNSW Elite Athlete program as is Tim Putt, who joined four of his UNSW-Wests teammates in the Australian Sharks' side that claimed the men’s silver medal at the Intercontinental Cup.
He joined UNSW alumni Nathan Power, preparatory student Charlie Negus, John Hedges and Rhys Holden. Putt, a Ben Lexcen Scholar, starred in Australia’s 16-4 win over Columbia named player of that match.
Former UNSW-Wests women’s coach Tim Hamill securing a medal at his first International event in charge with his side losing just one game in the preliminaries and going down in the Final to the USA by the narrowest of margins, 7-6.
More about UNSW Wests water polo club here.
Australia's gold medal winning women's water polo team at the World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru, (Credit: Water Polo Australia).