BEING back in the pool was more than enough for country Victoria's best water polo players who took the the Ballarat Aquatic and Leisure Centre at the weekend for the country championships.
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After a last minute cancellation brought on by Victoria's snap five-day lockdown when the event was scheduled in February, teams from as far away as Albury-Wodonga made the pilgrimage to make a splash in Ballarat.
It was Geelong and Albury-Wodonga that would come out on top, Geelong a dominant force in the men's event, while Albury-Wodonga won a hard fought championship match in the women's.
Ballarat Water Polo Club spokesperson Melinda Childs said all competitors were thrilled to have a chance to compete again.
"While we weren't able to get quite as many players as we had hoped, we ended up with six men's teams and three women's teams," she said.
"Geelong were strong in the men's, but the women's event was very close. Albury-Wodonga won a hard fought battle against Geelong in the final.
"It was a terrific event, everyone went out and socialised afterwards, there was a lot of great fun to be had and it was just so good to be able to compete again and see so many people being able to enjoy themselves."
For Ballarat players, it was a chance to get out and compete against some of the best players in the state.
"I think the Ballarat competed really well," Childs said. "We had one player who had only played one event before and he came in and scored a goal, so he was thrilled with that.
"The teams learned a lot from the competition. It's how you improve, by getting an opportunity to play in events like this more regularly. We were massively thrilled with how everything went, and what always happens with these types of events, everyone is really pumped to get out and do more representative events."
Childs said the team members would be back at training from Monday night and was keen to get more matches in against sides like Geelong going forward.
She said discussions were also in place with Water Polo Victoria about the possibility of running a winter competition across Ballarat this year.
She said she was also keen to get juniors up and running at the club.
"We're always recruiting and always on the look-out for more players, so anyone who wants to join we'd love to hear from you," Childs said.
Anyone wishing to play water polo or learn more about the Ballarat Water Polo Association can log onto ballaratwaterpolo.org to find out more
