BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Abby Andrews (So., indooroopilly, Australia/Brisbane Girls Grammar School) and Maddy Steere (Sr., Pascoe Vale, Australia/St. Catherine’s School) of the University of Michigan will join teammate/Hartwick College Hall of Fame member Bronwen Knox and the rest of the Team Australia Stingers in a three-month training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Aussie Stingers head coach Predrag Mihailovic said the squad would benefit from additional time together in and out of the pool.
“Our squad members are spread across four states and to have everyone in the same place for this extended period will be a great benefit to our team’s preparations,” said Mihailovic.
“This camp is an important building block in our preparation for Tokyo. It will give the players the opportunity to not only work together on physical preparation, skills and tactical play, but also to focus on building stronger relationships”
“It is a huge commitment from our athletes who are putting their lives at home on hold to pursue their Olympic goals,” he said.
The Aussie Stingers will complete three, three-week training stints with each training block separated by a week at home. The camp will commence on September 9 and conclude on December 21 prior to the start of the 2020 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s season.
During the camp the squad will prepare against a junior boy’s squad as well as the Hungarian women’s team who will visit Australia in December.
Similar camps were staged prior to the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games campaigns and resulted in success for the Aussie Stingers who famously won gold at Sydney (2000) and bronze in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
Information courtesy Australia Water Polo
