Marist Auckland Waterpolo

His great performances on the international stages in 2005 didn’t go unnoticed. During Decembers Schoolboys Trans Tasman Test Series Marist’s Andy Sieprath got picked up by selectors of the West Sydney …. To play in the Australian National League, the strongest Water Polo Club competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Andy is already in Sydney taking part in intense preparations for the first games commencing later this month. “We are coached by Mr Urkin, a Russian who coached Australia for a number of
years. He has some and great ideas and trains us really hard.”

After Aaron Stockdales retirement following an eye injury during last year’s NZ National League campaign Marist looks like starting the season without any of their experienced lefties. Next on the list would be National Schoolboys representative Todd Lambourne, who gave his National League debut against Rotorua last year.

Andy is expected back late in April to join Marist for the remaining games including the National Championship Finals in Wellington early June.

Marist's Charles Lane and Andy Sieprath have just returned from Junior Men's World Championships in Argentina where the team came 12th, the best result ever for a New Zealand Junior Men's team. Andy was the youngest player in squad. He talked to us about his personal experiences on the big trip around the world and why he keeps training. 

Maristwaterpolo.com: That was a pretty long trip around the world, wasn’t it?

Andy: Yes, we travelled for 5 weeks. The first two weeks we had a training camp in Hungary. We trained and played with Hungarian first division team Solnok. We also went to Budapest to watch the Superfinals between the four strongest Hungarian teams. It was just amazing to watch absolute world class athletes like Gerkeley Kiss, Peter Biros and the Steinmetz brothers playing.

Maristwaterpolo.com: … and from there straight to South America …

Andy: Yeah, to Buenos Aires first for a Pre tournament with Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and the Argentinean Superstars. After that we moved to Mar del Plata for the actual World Championship tournament.

Maristwaterpolo.com: How happy are you with the team’s result?

Andy: Generally very pleased – the 12^th place is a great achievement. On the other hand, however, we probably could have done even better.

Maristwaterpolo.com: What was the problem?

Andy: Well, the 4 – 11 loss against Australia obviously. They were just faster than us – faster swimmers and faster thinkers. We made six mistakes in the game and they capitalised on all of them. After missing out on the top 8 the team was a bit down and I suppose we carried that disappointment through the rest of the tournament.

Maristwaterpolo.com: How do you view your own performance?

Andy: I am fairly satisfied. I was the youngest player in the team and managed to claim a starter’s position. I also scored six goals which I was very pleased with. I suppose I adjusted well to the different style of play.

Maristwaterpolo.com: Different style of play – what do you mean with that?

Andy: Oh, it’s so much more physical and faster. You have to be switched on at all time because everything happens so quickly. The Eastern European teams like Hungary and Serbia played physical water polo with strong and dominant centre forwards while Spain, Italy and also Japan played a fast driving game.

Maristwaterpolo.com: Who was your favourite player?

Andy: Spain’s Philipe Perone. He is a comparably small but very smart player with a great game understanding – He is a good example that you don’t necessarily need to be a 120 kg to be one of the best players in the world. Apparently Philipe is already playing for Spain’s senior side.

Maristwaterpolo.com: Back home, the big event is over – what comes next?

Andy: No time to rest really. The Schoolboys Trans Tasman Series comes up in December. We will try to retain the shield against Australia by winning a test series over there for the first time. Also the Senior National League will start in February.

Maristwaterpolo.com: So I suppose you keep training…

Andy: Certainly. I registered for the Marist High Performance program and will work on my fitness – swimming, running, gym – the whole thing…

Maristwaterpolo.com: Will see you at the pool then. Thanks for the interview.

Taking a walk in Hungary (left) ...  checking out the local girls (right).