Kardinia’s pooling power

KARDINIA Pool came to life on Sunday when the Geelong Marlins hosted the latest round of the Victorian junior championships — the first time the competition had been held in Geelong.

About 300 athletes from some of the state’s biggest clubs, including Melbourne Collegians, Richmond and Footscray, battled it out in perfect conditions.

The local event was a boost for the junior Marlins — the only regional team in the competition — who normally have to travel to Melbourne to play.

Action was spread across under-12 mixed and under-14 boys and girls divisions.

Geelong fielded two mixed under-12 teams, including a development team to help expose young players to the rigours of competition.

Many of the children had just competed in the Grade 5-6 primary schools tournament at MSAC and their improvement was evident. There was plenty of talent in the water, with many of the boys’ under-14 teams having state and national representatives.

Geelong’s under-12 side has one more round in Melbourne this weekend before the summer break.

The next major tournament in Geelong is the tri-state junior championships on February 16-17, where up to 40 teams from regional Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and Melbourne will be competing.

MORE INFO: visit the Geelong Marlins Water Polo website or Facebook page.