BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A trio of former Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) women’s water polo athletes will compete for Australia at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo as Water Polo Australia named the nation’s roster for the games.
Former Hartwick College standout Bronwen Knox and former University of Michigan athletes Amy Ridge and Abby Andrews are among the 13 athletes that will represent their homeland as the ‘Aussie Stingers’ seek to follow bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju Korea, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London with Gold in the delayed games of 2021.
The team will start their campaign at Tokyo’s Tatsumi Water Polo Center on July 24, 2021, with Australia in Pool A with European Champions Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and South Africa.
Knox, who will makes history by becoming the first Australian woman to make four Olympics in water polo, will be joined by 20-year debutant Andrews who joins Matilda Kearns of the University of Southern California to become the third and fourth youngest women to play Water Polo for Australia at an Olympics.
Bronwen Knox: The captain of the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Australia Olympic Women’s Water Polo teams and a two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist (2008, 2012), Knox is the only player in the history of the Hartwick College women’s water polo program to earn second team All-America honors from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC). She helped guide the Hawks to a record of 56-20, two CWPA Northern Division titles, a CWPA Eastern crown and a sixth-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship during her two seasons in Oneonta, N.Y.
Following her freshman campaign in 2005, she was the CWPA Northern and Eastern Championship Rookie of the Year, a first team CWPA Northern and Eastern selection, and was an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America selection. In 2006, Knox led the country in scoring with 127 tallies and was later named Most Valuable Player of both the Northern Division and Eastern Championships. She also earned ACWPC All-Academic team honors and received second team All-America accolades.
A 2012 inductee to the Hartwick Hall of Fame, she totaled 229 goals, 57 assists, 286 points, 209 steals as a member of the Hawks, including program single-season record 127 goals and 117 steals in 2006.
Amy Ridge: Ridge competed for the University of Michigan during the 2016 season as a freshman. In 38 games, she tallied 20 goals and 10 assists and helped the Wolverines claim the 2016 CWPA Championship and a Fourth Place mark at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
Abby Andrews: Andrews competed for Michigan during the 2019 season and registered 57 goals, 71 assists and 47 steals with a 41-for-50 mark in sprints in the span of 32 games. A member of the 2019 CWPA Champion Wolverines, she claimed CWPA Rookie of the Year and ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America honors during her lone season in Ann Arbor. A 2019 CWPA All-Conference Second Team pick, she received Rookie of the Tournament and First Team All-Tournament recognition at the CWPA Championship prior to helping the Maize & Blue reach the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
