After shoulder surgery ended his time playing water polo, Nick Brbot redirected his love for the water and began taking on 8ft+ waves as a professional body surfer. Ten thousand Instagram followers later, Nick is an integral member of the Bate Bay Body Bashers and frequently surfs heavy breaks such as Cape Solander and Voodoo.

In this podcast episode, Nick recounts his journey as both a water polo player and a body surfer, and gives insight into the terrifying moment he was held underwater, unable to reach the surface.

@nickbrbot

@batebaybodybashers

www.thebodysurfingshop.com.au

This week's episode features Michaela Davies, who is a current national league player for the Cronulla Sharks and a player/coach at the Sydney Stingers.

The Sydney Stingers are a LGBTQI based, all inclusive water polo club that formed in 2001. They currently play competitively in the Sydney Metropolitan competition with over 180 playing members and continue to grow year on year. Mic has recently returned from Paris, where they sent three teams to the 2018 Gay Games.

In a sport where participation drops when life gets in the way, the stingers have proved the opposite, providing an all inclusive outlet for people to learn, play, train and socialise around the sport of water polo.

In this episode you will hear about how Mic fell into a role at the stingers, in the process rediscovering the joy of the sport and making lifelong friends.

@Kaylakate93

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The Sydney Stingers Spring 2018 boot camp will run over 3 sessions on Saturday mornings in September, with dates/times as follows:

Saturday Sept 8, 10:00 to 11:30am - Session 1

Saturday Sept 15, 10:00 to 11:30am - Session 2

Saturday Sept 22, 10:00 to 11:30am - Session 3

To sign up, head to:

https://sydneystingers.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/20146-boot-camp-spring-2018

This week's guest Nicolai Morris is a senior strength and conditioning coach who has worked with a number of elite sporting teams including the NSW Womens State of Origin rugby league team, Sydney Uni National Premier League Football, NSW Waratahs Womens Rugby Union and the Sydney Uni lions national league water polo team.

Having gained qualifications in sports science and teaching, It is no coincidence that Nic's teams are successful. In the past 6 months her various teams played 85 matches, resulting in only 4 losses. Nic knows what it takes to bring individuals together and what it takes for teams to be successful.

Sydney Uni Sport Strength and Conditioning @susfstrengthandconditioning

Nicolai Morris

@nicolai.swimming

Regarded as one of the most successful coaches in Australian Water Polo, Ian has been involved in Water Polo for over 50 years. As a coach, he lead the Australian Womens team to a 3 year undefeated run that included a World Cup and a World Championship.

Ian also discusses his career in the media and his love of all sports in what is truly an episode for the sports lover.

This week spoke to Event Founder Scott Nicholson to provide a quick update about the latest Beach Water Polo Fours news and he tells us about his time with the Australian Beach Handball team during their time at the recent World Championships in Russia.

This week, we take the show on the road in order to pin down Taniele Gofers. Taniele is regarded as one of the best Water Polo players of her time and is also a bronze medalist in Beijing 2008. Stepping away from the sport, Taniele currently works for the United Nations in Myanmar. She speaks passionately and intelligently about important world issues and gives a healthy dose of perspective for us all.

NOTE: Unfortunately we left the metronome on during this recording, we thought this recording was way too interesting to not publish so we hope you understand!

The week we speak to Surf Life Saving legend Hannah Minogue, who's sporting career has seen her try just about everything. Her never ending resume features two seasons in the Nutri Grain Ironwoman Series, 4x Australian Gold Medals, places in the Australian and NSW kayaking teams, more than 100 games in the NSW Women's Premier League Football as well as being a fulltime firefighter and a casual PE teacher.

A glimpse into a day in the life of the Australian Womens Water Polo team, the Aussie Stingers, as we speak to Pascalle Casey about her first full tour with the national team.

This week we caught up with national champion and former Aussie Stinger Alicia Brightwell who took us through her journey in and out of the pool. From coming out as an elite athlete to finding her passion in making people laugh and smile, Alicia truly defines what it is to be a great teammate.

For the next two weeks, we are bringing you closer to two championship winners from the 2018 Australian National Water Polo League. This week we bring you Michael Rosenthal, captain of the Sydney Uni Lions and a former US National Team representative who has also played professionally in Serbia and Brazil.

Being part of a dynasty at the University of Southern California that won 5 consecutive national championships, Michael knows what it takes to develop championship habits both in and out of the pool. Since then he has completed studies in law, environmental science and human biology as he continues to be a leader in the community and the environmental challenges we all face. 

Next Week: Alicia Brightwell