About

Water Polo ACT is the Territory association overseeing water polo in the ACT. WPACT is an affiliated association of Water Polo Australia and we work in partnership to develop the sport within Canberra and the surrounding region.

Water polo in the ACT

Water Polo has a long history in Canberra, with the first evidence of a match being played in the Molnoglo River in the early 1930s between the Royal Military Corp Cadets (RMC). The first recorded water polo fixture was an inter-district match in February 1934 between Goulburn and Canberra Swimming Clubs, with Yass joining in soon after.

Establishing a home for water polo proved difficult, with the managers for the two public pools in Canberra (Civic and Manuka) being unsympathetic to the sport. As such, most games in the early years were played at the RMC pool at Duntroon - a location still used to this day.

Over the next few decades, water polo continued to grow and develop not only in Canberra, but also in country New South Wales. It was therefore, no surprise that in the 1953-54 season, the NSW Amateur Water Polo Association and the Country Committee of the NSW Amateur Swimming Association decided to conduct a country water polo championships at the State Swimming Championships in Wagga Wagga. The knock-out competition saw the Canberra club defeat the local team Wagga, to claim the inaugural championships. They defended the title in 1955, and then took the crown again in 1958.

As the standard and popularity of water polo grew, the Canberra Swimming Cub were allowed access to the diving pool at Canberra Civic Olympic Pool, where we continue to play games to this day.

The Services Club formed by Alf Tye lead the charge on developing a sustainable water polo base, and the first local competition was purely an intra-Services based competition. By 1963, various departments of the Armed Services had been transferred to Canberra, and that same year several members of the RAAF team that had won the NSW Country Championships were posted to Canberra. With the RAAF team, Alf Tye approached the other Services team to arrange a game for his players and a competition was soon formed.

The first ACT water polo competition was played out between Army (lead by Alan Vinyl), RAAF (lead by Alf Tye), RMC and Navy. The competition was held at RMC pool, and at the time it was frequented by the children of servicemen, many of whom were teens and showed a keen interest in the sport. When Navy was unable to continue in the competition, it was these teenagers who requested they joined the competition under the name of Dolphins.

At the end of the 1963-64 season, Alan Vinyl approached Norths Rugby Club and the Ainslie Australian Football Club to join the competition.

Drawing on the experience of players across the clubs, the first ACT team was formed to compete at the NSW Country Championships. From 1965, the team dominated the Championships for the next five years.

While the RAAF and Army sides disappeared in the late sixties - mostly due to the players' involvement in the Vietnam war - water polo was firmly established in Canberra. In 1976 the South Canberra Club developed and started to dominate the competition. Founded by Martin Tye, the club nurtured young talent, including Kim Terrell (former Olympic swimmer) and Rodd McGibbon - both of whom continue to play today. South Canberra went on to win eight consecutive local premierships, as well as the NSW Country Club Championships, and were the mainstay of the ACT team which won numerous country district titles.

Nordek Water Polo Club was established in 1977 with the amalgamation of Norths and Deakin. The club nurtured the talent of young players, many of whom continue to play in the competition today. By the mid-1980s, the club was a force in the ACT winning their first title in 1986.

Nordek dominated the men's competition until in 1990, through some skilled recruiting by the Services Club saw Los Angeles Olympian, Rene Bol lead the Services Club to its first tile in 23 years.

In 1994 and 1996, Tuggeranong Vikings and Dragons joined the competition. 

The ACT's newest club is Canberra Grammar School, being ratified as a club in 2017 after participating as an associate team in the competition for a number of years.

The ACT competition has produced talented players over a number of decades, with players going on to represent Australia at the youth, junior and senior levels. We hope to continue this proud history as we continue to nurture the development of players no matter their age and what level they play.