Huntington Beach, CA – May 18 – The USA Water Polo Men’s and Women’s National Teams take one step closer to Rio de Janeiro and the 2016 Olympic Games this weekend when they welcome Australia for a series of matches in Central and Southern California. Fresh off a gold medal at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament in Japan the USA Men will take on Australia in two matches while the USA Women, defending Olympic champs, will battle the Aussies in three games.
All four teams have qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games and the squads are no strangers to each other. The USA Men and Australia met this past Sunday in Yokohama, Japan to decide the FINA Intercontinental crown, a one goal win for Team USA. Meanwhile, the USA Women and Australia represent one of the sport’s greatest rivalries as the two world powers have met in either the semifinals or medal round of every Olympic Games to offer women’s water polo.
The action begins Friday evening in Claremont, CA when the USA Men and Australia meet at Pomona-Pitzer’s Haldeman Pool at 7pm. A live webcast is available and can be accessed by clicking here. From there the scene shifts to Los Angeles and USC’s Uytengsu Aquatic Center for a Team USA-Australia doubleheader starting at 1pm. The men will play first followed by the women with all the action broadcast LIVE on NBC Sports Network and the NBC Sports Extra app at 4pm et/1pm pt. Click here for more information on how to watch NBC Sports Network in your area or on your mobile and tablet devices.
Sunday brings a close to the men’s competition but the women’s water polo will just be heating up as the USA-Australia series moves north to Fresno, CA and the Fresno State Aquatics Center on Tuesday, May 24 for a 6pm opening sprint. A live webcast is available and can be accessed by clicking here. All the action comes to a close on Thursday, May 26 in Irvine, CA at Beckman High School with the USA Women and Australia meeting at 7pm. Live coverage of this match and all games in the series will be available on Twitter by following @USAWP.
Tickets for all matches are on-sale now and can be purchased by clicking here. Live stats will be available for every match via The FOSH and a live broadcast will be offered for all but one game.
2016 USA-Australia Series (Follow @USAWP on Twitter for match updates)
all times pst
May 20 – USA Men vs Australia – Haldeman Pool – Claremont, CA 7pm
Tickets – Webcast – Live Stats
May 22 – USA Men & Women vs Australia – Uytengsu Aquatic Center – Los Angeles, CA 1pm
Tickets – NBC Sports Network/NBC Sports Live Extra – Live Stats (Men) – Live Stats (Women)
May 24 – USA Women vs Australia – Fresno State Aquatics Center – Fresno, CA 6pm
Tickets – Webcast – Live Stats
May 26 – USA Women vs Australia – Beckman High School – Irvine, CA 7pm
Tickets – Live Stats
Following this series the USA Women will play Hungary at the end of June in three matches played on the East Coast. USA and Hungary will meet in Miami, FL on June 27, Greenwich, CT on June 29 and Bronx, NY July 2. Tickets for those matches are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here. All three matches will be webcast live through USA Water Polo TV at YouTube.com/USAWP.
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.