HIGH ACHIEVERS: 4 local players help Canada to 6-1 record at Div. 2 water polo worlds, pair of 18U women make senior national team

By Martin Cleary

When it comes to participating and competing in water sports, Ottawa offers a rich menu of options.

Swimmers have the luxury of learning and practising their strokes with the Greater Ottawa Kingfish, Nepean-Kanata Barracudas, Goulbourn Sea Hawks, Ottawa Swim Club, Swim Ottawa , the Ottawa Young Olympians and other clubs. The University of Ottawa and Carleton University also provide competitive swimming in their athletic portfolios.

If someone wanted to add a gymnastics component, the Nepean-Ottawa and Ottawa National diving clubs are there to teach the intricate twists and somersaults from varying heights. If they’d like to add a bit more theatrics and some music, they could try artistic swimming with the GO Capital or Nepean clubs.

And then, if team sports are a concept they enjoy, then water polo could fit that bill, with the Ottawa Titans and the Capital Wave clubs leading in that robust sport that demands strong swimming skills.

This is an important time of the year for water polo athletes as international, national and provincial competitions are taking centre stage and Water Polo Canada has named its youth national teams.

And Ottawa and Gatineau athletes were prominent in all aspects of the water polo news.

Almost two years out from the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, Canada registered a strong showing at the World Aquatics Men’s Water Polo World Cup Division 2 competition last week in Malta. Canada has only qualified for four Olympics (1972, 1976, 1984 and 2008) in the past 14 Summer Games in men’s water polo.

World Cup Division 2 featured 23 national teams in a new competition format, which saw the top two teams advance to the Super Final this summer in Sydney. Montenegro defeated Georgia 19-17 in the final.

Canada won a remarkable six games, but its only loss came in the round of 16 and eliminated it from chasing a top-two placing.

The world’s top eight countries played in World Cup Division 1 at Alexandroupolis, Greece, last week and the top five teams qualified for the Super Final.

Canada, which had four Ottawa-Gatineau players on its roster including captain Bogdan Djerkovic, used its 6-1 record to place ninth overall, effectively being the best team not to reach the championship quarterfinals.

In its first three games, Canada turned back Singapore 18-7, France 13-12 and Portugal 17-6 to finish second in the preliminary round. But in the championship round of 16, Ukraine outscored Canada 17-13.

Disappointed by that loss, Canada rebounded and finished strong with another three victories to secure its best-possible result at that point, defeating Turkey 15-14, after being down 5-1 in the first quarter, edging Slovakia 14-12 and hanging on to beat Malta 14-12, after leading 9-2 at halftime.

“I feel we took a significant step forward in this tournament,” Pat Oaten, the Canadian head coach, said via a Water Polo Canada press release. “(We had) a little blip in one of the games. It’s a shame we finished 6-1 in this tournament and the best we could finish is ninth.

“A lot of good things happened and this team came together in and out of the water. We need to start moving forward, start getting ready for what’s up and coming, fix what we can fix and keep building on that momentum.”

In Canada’s two-goal win over Slovakia, Djerkovic of the Ottawa Titans scored three goals, while Aleksa Gardijan of Gatineau counted two goals. Jackson Taylor of the Titans and Kacper Langiewicz of Ottawa also were in the Canadian lineup.

“I’m really proud of this team (and) how we came together in such a short amount of time,” Djerkovic stated. “Obviously, there was a disappointing loss to Ukraine.

“But moving forward, the team showed a lot of resilience, a lot of fight and spirit. I think we started to show our identity as a team, our energy. We brought some great new elements and overall I think this was a really, really big step for us moving towards LA 2028.”

Canada will return to the pool beginning April 21 for the World Aquatics Women’s Water Polo World Cup Division 2 championship in Malta.

The national senior women’s team roster will have three Capital Wave players – Lujayn Abdelfattah and Jessica Gaudreault, both of Ottawa, and Yasmine Sowka of Greely. Canada will play Germany on April 21, Brazil on April 22 and Portugal on April 23.

Playing for the Canadian senior women will be a big step for Abdelfattah and Sowka, who have both been named to the national women’s youth (18U) water polo squad.

The Canadian men’s youth (18U) lineup will include Hayes Courtney of Milton, ON and Salt Lake City as well as the Ottawa Titans. Daniel Almasi of Etobicoke and the Titans was selected as a team alternate.

Felix Trofinenco of the Titans was the lone Ottawa player named to the national men’s junior (19U) team. Courtney will serve as an alternate.

Six Ottawa players have been named to the cadet (16U) national teams – Stanley Anderson and Ibrahim Dawoud, both Capital Wave, and Dragos Rebenko and Nikola Tesanovic, both of the Titans, for the men’s squad; and Gillian Corkum and Naomi Jones, both of Capital Wave, for the women’s side.

At the recent National Championship League men’s 16U eastern conference tournament in Etobicoke, Ottawa Titans finished first with a win over CAMO in the final, while Capital Wave took third place.

The Titans had three tournament all-stars in Tesanovic, Rebenko and Dragos Pirusca, while Anderson was selected from the Wave.

In the women’s competition, Capital Wave emerged as champions and the Titans were third.

The women’s all-star team included Corkum and Jones as well as Charlotte Bushell of the Titans.

At the Canadian women’s senior water polo championship in Calgary, the Titans placed fifth with a 1-2 record. Auden Dolejsi and Julia Decaire each scored six goals off 18 attempts.