Carlile swimming teacher Sienna Hearn will be hoping for another international gold after being selected in the Australian Women’s water polo team to play the world league finals in Tenerife.
After an anxious wait the news came through this week “we got an email with a link to see who was in the team, it was a nerve wracking time, we thought the team was going to be announced a little earlier and then when the link comes you are nervous opening it and then really excited to see I’d made it,” Sienna said.
The Carlile Freshwater teacher made her debut for Australia in Peru earlier this year picking up a player of the match award in her second game “I was nervous in the first match, the second was against Brazil so high scoring and I just started to feel a bit more comfortable.”
The Stingers were unbeaten in that tournament, knocking over world number one the USA along the way. If they are to win the finals in Spain they will likely need to repeat the dose. The finalists are Australia, Olympic champions the USA, current World Champions Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Greece, The Netherlands and Canada.
Australia has picked its strongest side which includes several players currently competing in professional leagues in Europe and in the US college system. Asked if she is beginning to feel more at home with a team chock full of Olympians Sienna said “100% I do.”
The youngster balances work, with university training with both her club and the NSW institute of sport and would love to one day play in Europe. Sienna is a recipient of a Forbes and Ursula Carlile Foundation scholarship as supporting her ultimate goal of playing at the Olympics in 2024.
