The British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced today 26 athletes - 13 male and 13 female - to represent Team GB in the men’s and women’s water polo competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Great Britain claimed four gold medals in men’s water polo at the early Olympic Games, but have been absent from the competition since 1956. The women’s event has only been held at the last three Games, and Team GB’s women will be making their Olympic debut in London this summer.
The athletes selected to Team GB today are:
Women:
Men:
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Women’s captain Fran Leighton, who won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2006 with England, will lead Team GB’s women in to their first Olympic Games. In January this year they progressed to the European Championships for the first time in 15 years, achieving their best result since 1987 when they played in the B final.
The women’s squad includes a mix of youth and experience, with Leighton, aged 30, the oldest member of the team, and Ciara Gibson-Byrne the youngest member at 19 years old.
Captaining the men’s squad in London is another Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, 33 year old Craig Figes, who has a strong family history in the water. His grandmother is a former world record holder, and his mother swam at the 1966 Commonwealth Games. The men’s squad contains ten athletes aged 25 or under.
Team GB’s men will face a tough group stage with matches against reigning Champions Hungary, the USA and Serbia – the silver and bronze medallists in 2008 as well as Montenegro and Romania.
The women’s team will take on Italy, Russia and Australia, bronze medallists from Beijing.
The water polo event will take place from 29th July to 12th August at the Water Polo Arena in the Olympic Park. The women's gold-medal match will be contested on 9th August, while the men's gold-medal match will take place on 12th August.
Hungary are the team to beat in the men’s event, having won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. The women’s event has so far has been won by Australia, Italy and the Netherlands.
The addition of the water polo athletes brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 314 from 27 sport disciplines.
The athletes were formally nominated to the BOA for selection to Team GB by British Swimming, the National Governing Body for water polo in the UK.
Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said:
Team GB women’s water polo captain Fran Leighton said:
Team GB men’s water polo captain Craig Figes said:
About Team 2012:
Team 2012, presented by Visa, is the official support programme for British athletes striving to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB in 2012.
Alongside National Lottery and Exchequer funding, Team 2012 helps to raise funds to support 1,200 athletes from 47 Olympic and Paralympic sports and disciplines who are in training to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB at London 2012. Funds raised are invested in six key areas across 47 different Olympic and Paralympic sporting disciplines:
For more information on Team 2012, visit www.team-2012.com