Messe B is the home of water polo during the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka and it is awash with Olympic and world champions either as current athletes, coaches, managers, delegates or deck officials. Many others have competed and possibly not won medals. However, there is no doubting their enthusiasm and dedication to pass on their knowledge to the next generation.
Take the Australian women’s team, who reached the semifinals on Monday, as one example of a team brimming with sporting royalty, both in the pool or in a familial context.
The Aussie Stingers’ head coach is 1992 Olympian Paul Oberman (Main picture), who has also coached his team to a Universiade gold medal in 2009 and won two bronzes medals as player. He won a World Cup bronze medal as a player in 1993 and was assistant coach when the Aussie Sharks took home a silver in 2018. His brother Mark Oberman is a dual Olympian and sister Natalie Oberman contested the 1994 Rome World Championships.
His assistant is Rebecca Rippon, a dual Olympian and 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist and 2006 World Cup champion. Her sister, Melissa Rippon, was a three-time Olympian and dual bronze medallist, World Cup bronze medallist and Commonwealth champion.
Sitting on the top seat poolside is manager Bronwyn Smith, who as Bronwyn Mayer was a Sydney 2000 gold medallist who also competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She is married to international rugby player Damian Smith.
Team captain Zoe Arancini (Above), who was member of the Media All Star team at the 2015 World Championships, is the daughter of inaugural world champion Wendy Meloncelli. Her aunty, Megan Meloncelli, was also a member of that team. The sisters were also 1984 World Cup champions.
Current Aussie Stinger Tilly Kearns (Above) has a famous father — Phil Kearns who was twice a World Cup-winning rugby union player and Wallaby captain.
Bronte Halligan (Above) is the daughter of Darryl Halligan, a former rugby league international for New Zealand and a legend of the sport in Australia.
Also, Bridget Leeson-Smith is the daughter of Amanda Leeson, 1984 World Cup and 1986 World Championship winner and captain of the team at the 1991 World Championships.
There are many other luminaries at least coaching here in the women’s competition with Italian women’s coach Carlo Silipo (Above) an Olympic gold and silver medallist from three appearances; Alessandro Campagna, a team member of Silipo in 1992 and coaching Italy men; Spanish women’s coach Miki Oca (Below), who won gold at Atlanta in 1996 after taking silver in 1992 and Theo Lorantos, the Greek Olympian coaching France women soon after two gold medals with the Greece junior men’s teams.