Bronwen took the plunge and her deep devotion to

WHEN Bronwen Knox jumped in her local Brisbane pool for a game of water polo with some friends she never imagined she would one day be the first Australian woman to play at four Olympics.

Knox, 35, had her heart set on being a swimmer – until she watched the Australian women’s water polo final at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

It was the first time women had been allowed to compete in the event at the Games.

“I remember seeing the gold-medal match, I was there with my mum she took us after the girls won the semi,” Knox (pictured right) said.

“I don’t remember sitting down, it was so exciting and such a close game to see those Aussie girls win with like one second left on the clock was amazing.

“Everyone stayed for the medal ceremony and I thought I want to be down there, to be a part of it, it wasn’t just one person it was an entire community.”

Knox got her first chance to play when a friend asked her to come along and play for the North Brisbane Polo Bears, at Albany Creek.

“I played my first game not knowing the rules, I just got told to swim whichever way the referee was pointing,” she said. “I remember going home and telling mum I loved it and I just wanted to keep playing. I needed to learn the rules and start training.”

The centre back/centre forward said the transition to full-time water polo was a slow one.

“I was swimming with Michael Bohl and I slowly made the transition over, I enjoyed (water polo) a lot more, it was the game and the team element,” Knox said. “It is all about learning to capitalise on the other team’s mistakes.”

At first Knox had to play in a boy’s team as the club had no girls teams but it didn’t take her long to get noticed.

“I still remember my first coaches at the Queensland Academy of Sports sitting me down in 2004 saying ‘we see you there in Beijing’,” she said.

“I was like, you guys are

crazy, I don’t see myself there, I’d only been playing for like two years.”

But sure enough come 2008, aged 22, Knox was selected. She scored 12 goals, the third-highest in the tournament, and helped Australia to a bronze medal. Knox and the Stingers earned another bronze at the London Olympics but missed the podium at Rio in 2016. In between Olympic campaigns Knox competed in numerous World Cups and world championships – she also earned a scholarship to study biomedical science at Hartwick College in the US.

“You meet some great friends and teammates and to share it with so many other women across Australia is amazing,” she said

Knox took some time away from the sport after the 2016 Olympics to find a career outside of the sport but she missed the game and team too much – returning to the pool in time to help the Stingers to bronze at the 2018 FINA World Cup.

“After such a big break I wasn’t even sure if I would make the (Olympics) team,” Knox said. “When I got the phone call saying I was in I thought I would feel relief but I didn’t, it was more shock. It wasn’t until I got off the phone I was like ‘this is happening’.

“It is never something I thought I would be doing, but to be able to go back to the Olympic Games and see what I can produce being a little bit older and a little bit of a different athlete is going to be amazing.”

The women’s water polo matches begin on Saturday.

The Stingers will face Spain, Canada, South Africa and the Netherlands in Pool A of the competition.