The FINA World Aquatics Day was celebrated in Port Moresby, with PNG being introduced to a new aquatic discipline – water polo.
Young and old came together at the Taurama Aquatic & Indoor Centre (TAIC) on July 1 to celebrate the inaugural event with a round robin game of water polo.
The event was hosted by Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc.
“We were very fortunate leading up to the FINA World Aquatics Day to have a FINA Development Water Polo Clinic for coaches.
“It provided a great opportunity and a pathway to introduce the game into PNG with Aleksandr Osadchuk, the high performance manager of the water polo program at Queensland Academy of Sport, conducting the clinic and teaching the art of officiating on the day,” said PNGSI President, Elizabeth Wells.
“They found the sport to be skilful, exciting and new, and well worth the effort to be involved in for fitness and fun and will now take the game back into their schools, communities and villages, teaching it in the pools, rivers and oceans.”
FINA President Dr Julio Maglione added that the FINA World Aquatics Day was officially launched in 2017 to celebrate and encourage the power of aquatic sports for social wellbeing and development in all corners of the world.
“The main objective is to encourage the masses around the globe to participate in physical activity in water with a common objective to enjoy aquatic physical activity,” said Maglione.
“I am sure that many good and positive ideas will come from our National Member Federations.
“This initiative is a great example of how we can promote together and in many different ways, our fantastic disciplines.”
The sport of water polo is governed by FINA, the world body of Aquatic Sports, and is played in over 100 countries.
It is an energetic sport which emphasises swimming ability and ball skill over toughness. It is played by both men and women of all ages and abilities.