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Kelsey Wakefield

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Kelsey Wakefield
Personal information
Nationality Australian
Born (1991-06-01) 1 June 1991 (age 33)
Gold Coast, Queensland
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
SportWater polo
ClubBrisbane Barracudas
Medal record
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2013 Barcelona Team competition
FINA World League
Silver medal – second place 2010 Finals Team competition
Canada Cup
Gold medal – first place 2011 Canada Cup Team competition
FINA Junior World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Junior Worlds Team competition

Kelsey Wakefield (born 1 June 1991[1]) is an Australian water polo player. Wakefield has been a member of the Australia women's national water polo team at the junior starting in 2006 and senior level starting in 2009. She earned a silver medal at the 2010 FINA World League, a gold medal at the 2011 Canada Cup and a bronze medal at the 2011 FINA Junior World Championships. Wakefield won a championship as a member of the 2011 Brisbane Barracudas squad in the National Water Polo League. As part of the Aussie Stingers, Wakefield represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

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Wakefield was born on 1 June 1991 in Gold Coast, Queensland. She is 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall and weighs 64 kilograms (141 lb).[1] She has a wingspan of 183 cm (6 ft 0 in),[2] and is left-handed.[1]

While she was growing up, Wakefield's house had a backyard pool, where she used to train with her sister, Brittany.[2] As a five-year-old, she watched the Olympics on television and dreamed of competing at the Games.[3]

Wakefield attended Trinity Lutheran College,[4] and was a straight-A student.[5] Beyond water polo, while in school, she also competed in the high jump.[4] In 2006, after winning the Queensland state championships, and setting a Queensland age group record and personal best of 166 cm (5 ft 5 in), she competed in the U16 national athletics competition.[6] In 2007, she finished fourth in her age group in high jump at the national championships.[5] In 2008, she competed at the Queensland U20 state athletics championships in the event, finishing second with a 165 cm (5 ft 5 in).[7] She eventually chose water polo over the high jump because she preferred to play a team sport.[4] Her departure from the sport was also a result of conflicting training times between it and water polo.[1]

Wakefield has a Bachelor of Biomedical Schiene from Griffith University on the Gold Coast.[8][1][2] She took a semester off from school in order to concentrate full-time on playing water polo with the hope of making the Olympics.[2][3] One of the reasons she is pursuing a career in medicine is because her father is a doctor.[4] She is thinking of specialising in pediatrics or anesthetics.[1][4]

Water polo

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Wakefield is a member of the Australia women's national water polo team. She is a goalkeeper.[1][9] She wears several different numbers including 1, 13 and 18.[1] She took up the sport when she was twelve years old at school.[1] In 2006, at the Australian Country Championships, she competed for the Queensland open women's team.[6] In 2007, she competed at the U16 Australian Water Polo Championships and was named the goalkeeper of the tournament.[5] She competed at the 2009 Australian National U20 Water Polo Championships for Queensland, where her team finished second to New South Wales.[10] She competed at the Australian National U20 competition in 2011, where her team took home gold.[1] She trains at the Queensland Academy of Sport,[1][2][3] and during the regular season, she may drive as many as 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) a week driving between home, university, the Queensland Academy of Sport, to training facilities and competition pools.[2] The City South News in Brisbane describes her as an "Australian water polo prodigy".[3] Between appearances on the junior national team and the senior national team, she has already played more than 50 games for Australia.[3] She currently holds a water polo scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport.[11]

Club water polo

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Wakefield plays club water polo for the Brisbane Barracudas who compete in the National Water Polo League.[1][2][3] She was with the team in 2008.[12] She was a member of the team in 2011 when they won the league championship for the third year in a row. She was in goal for the championship match with the score 4–4 at the end of regular time, 1–1 at the end of over time and finally going to a shootout. Wakefield was named to the league's 2011 All Star team.[13][14]

Juniors

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Wakefield represented Australia in 2006 at the U16 national team that competed at the New Zealand hosted Pan Pacific Championships.[6] In 2007, she was a member of the U16 national team.[5] In 2008, she was a member of the U16 and U17 national teams, and the first ranked goal keeper on the U16 squad.[4] She was a member of the Australian side that finished third at the 2011 FINA Junior World Championships.[15] She was the captain of the Australian side. The team finished third after losing to eventual gold medalist, Spain, during the semifinals.[2]

Seniors

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Wikinews has related news:

Wakefield made her first appearance for the senior side at the 2009 Canada Cup.[1] She was a member of the 2010 team that finished second at the FINA World League Super Finals held in La Jolla, California.[1] She competed at the 2010 Canada Cup. In a preliminary round match against Canada that Australia won 11–5, she made 10 saves in goal. Her team played Italy in the semi-finals of the 2010 Cup.[16] She represented Australia at the 2011 Canada Cup, and participated in the gold medal final match against China that Australia won. She was named the Goalkeeper of the Tournament.[9] She competed in a warm up match for the 2011 FINA Water Polo World League against Italy in Ostia, Italy in July that Australia won 12–11.[17]

In October 2011, as a representative of the senior squad, she attended a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport.[2] The camp had four goal Australian goalkeepers at it, of which only two would be named to the squad to compete at the Olympics.[2][3] She competed in the Pan Pacific Championships in January 2012 for the Australian Stingers.[18] She was part of the Stingers squad that competed in a five-game test against Great Britain at the AIS in late February 2012.[19] She did not compete in the first match. She competed in the remaining four matches in the series.[20]

Recognition

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In 2008, Wakefield was nominated for Gold Coast Sportsperson of the Year.[21] In 2010, she was nominated for the Queensland Junior Sportswoman of the Year.[4][22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Australian Water Polo Inc.: Wakefield, Kelsey". Sydney, Australia: Australian Water Polo. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Greenwood, Emma (18 October 2011). "Kelsey keeps focused on netting her Olympic goal". Gold Coast Bulletin. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. p. 50. GCB_T-20111018-B-050-420198.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "In Olympics bid, Kelsey's on the ball". City South News. Brisbane, Australia. 26 January 2012. p. 36.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Potts, Andrew (4 March 2008). "Kelsey has it all covered". The Gold Coast Bulletin. Queensland, Australia. p. 24. GCB_T-20080304-B-024-365992.
  5. ^ a b c d Cowell, Penny (13 November 2007). "All keeping and leaping". The Gold Coast Bulletin. Gold Coast, Australia. p. 27. GCB_T-20071113-B-027-485642. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  6. ^ a b c MacDonald, Andrew (6 February 2007). "Kelsey aims high in water polo". The Gold Coast Bulletin. Gold Coast, Australia. p. 26. GCB_T-20070206-B-026-208923. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Gold rush for locals at state champs". Ipswich News. Ipswich, Australia. 28 February 2008. p. 58. IPS_T-20080228-1-058-471516. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  8. ^ "Kelsey Wakefield". Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Aussie Stingers finish Canada Cup undefeated after claiming gold over China : News Centre : Australian Sports Commission". Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Sport. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Silver for Barracudas". City South News. Brisbane, Australia. 29 January 2009. p. 36. CSN_T-20090129-1-036-756811. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  11. ^ Australian Institute of Sport. "AIS Women's Water Polo — Kelsey Wakefield". Canberra, Australia. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  12. ^ Australian Water Polo Inc. (2009). "2008 Barracudas Women". Sydney, Australia. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  13. ^ "Barracudas sink Sharks in shoot-out". City South News. Brisbane, Australia. 19 May 2011. p. 54. CSN_T-20110519-1-054-513810. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  14. ^ Australian Water Polo Inc. (2011). "Australian Water Polo Inc.: 2011 Brisbane Barracudas Women". Australia. Retrieved 29 February 2012.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Final Aussie Stingers Olympic train on Squad Announced". Au.ibtimes.com. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  16. ^ "AAP News: WPOL:Aussie waterpolo team unbeaten in Canada". AAP News. Australia: Financial Times Limited — Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 18 December 2010. WAAP83758101. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  17. ^ "AAP News: WPOL:Aust water polo women beat Italy 12–11". AAP News. Australia: Financial Times Limited — Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  18. ^ Packwood, David (1 January 2012). "London looms as a splash and grab job – – COUNTRY SPORT". The Sunday Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. p. 073.
  19. ^ Tuxworth, Jon (21 February 2012). "Stinger survivors in the swim for third Olympics". The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. p. 19.
  20. ^ "Australian Water Polo Inc.: Australia v Great Britain Test Series: Stingers too good for Brits". Sydney, Australia: Australian Water Polo. 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  21. ^ "TXT4U". The Gold Coast Bulletin. Queensland, Australia. 4 March 2008. p. 22. GCB_T-20080304-B-022-359772.
  22. ^ Baynes, Valkerie (19 October 2010). "State's best vie for top sports accolade". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane, Australia. p. 66. CML_T-20101019-1-066-131013. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
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