Scoreboard
Water Polo
Men's and Women's National Leagues
Men: Sydney University Lions 6 (Alastair Visch 2, James Young, Scott Nicholson, Jeremy Davie, Lachlan Hollis goals) d University of Western Australia Torpedoes 5 (Kistamas Zsolt, Brad Mercer, Sasha Kovalenko, Joseph Balczer, Tom Jasper) at UWA Pool.
Sydney University 7 d Balmain Tigers 6 at Peter Montgomery Pool, Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre.
Women: Sydney University Lions 16 (Alicia Brightwell 5, Gabby Wickman 3, Keesja Gofers 3, Casey Bowry 2, Alex Boyd, Melissa Hammond, Samara Davie goals) d UWA Torpedoes 5 (Matil Connor 2, Georgina Kovacs, Maggie Earl, Cathryn Earl, Jenna Sanders) at UWA Pool.
Balmain 10 d Sydney University 6 at Peter Montgomery Pool, Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre.
Cricket
Sydney Grade competition - Round 14
First Grade: Parramatta 8(dec)-245 (Adam Turrell 65, Brenton Cherry 45, Luke Forbes 37, Michael Wood 28; Tom Keirath 3-76, Ian Moran 2-59) d Sydney University 226 (Tom Keirath 50, Josh Toyer 34 not out, Liam Robertson 30, Will Hay 26; Anthony Marr 3-59, Michael Wood 2-41, Daniel Jackson 2-45, Ben Martin 2-59) and 1-41 (Mark Faraday 23 not out) on the first innings at Sydney University No.1 Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Parramatta 6, Sydney University 0.
Second Grade: Sydney University 7(dec)-351 (Michael Culkoff 130 not out, Adam Theobald 92, Tim Ley 69 not out; James Parkinson 5-59, Luke Dempsey 2-50) d Parramatta 113 Michael Culkoff 7-25, Tim Ley 2-38) and 6-230 (Nicholas Bertus 89, Matt Windred 87; Shashi Keshar 2-45) on the first innings at Old Kings Oval. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.
Third Grade: Sydney University 226 (Jack Hammond 56, Suda Sivapalin 52, Matthew Gregory 38, Ken Huckle 26; Steve Karam 3-33, Peter Freney 3-57, James Pike 2-49) d Parramatta 195 (Luke Trudgett 52, Steve Karam 40, Ben Abbott 31, Tim Fragogianis 26 not out; Alasdair Grant 3-28, Dave Jessup 2-19, Brendon Smith 2-23) on the first innings at Sydney University No.2 Oval. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.
Fourth Grade: Parramatta 187 (Mark Ward 53, Scott Copperfield 32 not out, Ankur Patel 31; Kerrod McPherson 5-23, Josh Lawrence 2-30) d Sydney University 132 (Kerrod McPherson 33 not out, Josh Lawrence 23; Shane Cassell 4-32, Scott Copperfield 2-16, Jonathan Brayshaw 2-29) on the first innings at Merrylands Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Parramatta. Points: Parramatta 6, Sydney University 0.
Fifth Grade: 7(dec)-285 (Jim Kazaglis 73, Benjamin Peacock 53 not out, Aaron Khongwar 36, Angus Glynne 34 not out) v Parramatta 48 (Virosh Poolasangandrum 4-2, Angus Glynne 3-11,Jim Kazaglis 2-10) and 7-204 (Jahangir Jadoon 97, Luke McNaught 60; James Rodgers 3-19) on the first innings at St Paul's College Oval. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Sydney University. Points: Sydney University 6, Parramatta 0.
Poidevin-Gray Shield - Semi-final
Penrith 1-191 (Jarryd Blake 91 not out, Tim Cummins 72 not out) d Sydney University 9-188 Ben Larkin 89 not out, Chris Jones 41; Max McNamara 5-21) at Howell Oval. Penrith to meet St George in final.
-
Thomas Whalan
The national team captain since 2005, Sydney Uni Lion Thomas Whalan is leading the Australian charge for Olympic glory at his third games in Beijing. The veteran of 238 internationals only took up water polo as a result of being bored from swimming up and down the lanes everyday in his swim training at school. Success came quickly as Thomas represented NSW at the U14 East Coast Championships the same year he took up the sport, with the team winning a gold medal. After completing his studies at the Scots College in Sydney, Thomas commenced a Commerce/Law degree at the University of Sydney.
He made his Australian debut in 1999 at the Under 20 World Championships, winning silver, as well as making his national senior side debut that same year in the team which finished eighth at the world cup meet in Sydney. Thomas competed in his first Olympics the following year in Sydney, the youngest player in the side at just 19 years old, as the team finished 8th.
In 2001 Thomas was nominated vice captain of Australia at just 20 years of age, a position he held until his promotion to the captaincy four years later.
As part of the Sydney Uni Lions team, Thomas won the Australian League title in 2002-3 and 2005.
Thomas sampled overseas water polo when he moved to Spain in 2002 to play for Barcelona, topping the goal scoring charts in 2003. That same year he also played for the Australian side in Barcelona, at the World Championships, finishing seventh. In 2004 Thomas moved back to Australia, having won a 2003 Spanish Super Cup title and finishing runner up in the Spanish Kings Cup with Barcelona.
Later that year he competed in his second Olympics in Athens, where the side finished 9th overall. They rebounded to take out the 2006 Commonwealth title in Perth, with Thomas captaining that side, as well as those which claimed bronze in the 2007 and 2008 World League Super Finals. In the interim Thomas played in the Italian National League, finishing the second highest goalscorer in the league in 2006, and claiming silver in the National Cup competition. Unsurprisingly Thomas speaks fluent Italian and Spanish as a result of his overseas travels.
Thomas Whalan captained the Men's Water Polo Team in Beijing, as they improved upon their ninth place finish in Athens to stand at eighth overall. The team did themselves proud against some of the heavyweights of the sport, with a thrilling one point loss to eventual gold medallists Hungary, who also won gold in Sydney and Beijing. Australian great Tom Hoad described the match as the greatest game Australia has ever played. The team needed a win against Montenegro to advance to the quarter-finals, and, though bravely holding the European champions to a draw, they narrowly missed out.
- Sharks Beijing bound
- Students find the net
- Maitland blasts Sharks to World League bronze medal
- Beijing squad could top 20
- University has 19 Beijing bound
- Aussie men ready for anybody
Send your fan mail to Thomas Whalan
Thomas' Fan Mail
Nancy writes:
Ciao Thomas, come stai? Dall'italia per me è difficile seguire la squadra australiana di water polo e molto spesso vedo solo il risultato finale dopo la partita. Spero il meglio per te e la tua squadra e..... visto che l'Italia è ormai fuori,, tifo solo per voi e soprattutto per te. Baci. Nancy..
[Tue 19/08/2008 5:05 PM]