MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE

18 AUGUST 2003

DRUMMOYNE JUNIOR WINS WATER POLO GOLD MEDAL

Local Drummoyne Water Polo Club member Tim Butcher was a member of the NSW Under 14 water polo team that was victorious in the East Coast Challenge final held recently at Ryde Aquatic Centre. The tournament attracted the top junior players from around Australia culminating in a 10-4 victory to the NSW team over archrivals Queensland.

Tim’s gold medal victory was a great way to finish off his initial season of water polo with the Drummoyne club who are investing a lot in the development of water polo in the Drummoyne community.

“We are committed to developing the junior talent on our doorstep. Our work in recent years has been rewarded with Tim's selection and a number of our other juniors in NSW squads. The opportunity that our juniors have to train in these high performance squads benefits all our juniors and is worth the investment. Another of our talented juniors, John Hahn, has been selected in the NSW team to play in the Australian Under 16 Championships to be held in Melbourne in October. Along with other Drummoyne juniors Andrew D’Ambrosio, Liam Windon, Aidan Roach and Matthew Pollock, whose talents were recognised with their selection in NSW training programmes, the Drummoyne junior programme is developing a talented group of athletes who are improving in every tournament,” said Andrew Murray, club President.

Such is its commitment to develop water polo, the Drummoyne club entered a team in the 2003 First Grade Winter competition, winning the minor premiership. Former Drummoyne juniors Luke Eddington and Toby Heys returned to join forces with former Queensland and Australian junior representative Jaret Grant, plus a mix of talented juniors and experienced campaigners upsetting the more favoured clubs along the way. Along with the Under 14 boys and Men’s 5^th Grade teams who also qualified for the semi finals the Drummoyne club is looking forward to the finals campaign.

Drummoyne has teams entered in the Girls and Boys Under 14 and 16 competitions and Open Women’s and Men’s teams in the NSW Water Polo summer competition starting mid October. They are also holding a clinic in the October school holidays at Drummoyne pool for girls and boys 12 to 15 in school years 6–10.

People interested in joining the club or participating in the clinic are encouraged to contact Michael Hahn on 0419 415381 or visit the club’s website drummoynewaterpolo.com.au

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For further information, or to arrange a photograph, please contact;

Jill Reid on 0403 84 1152.