NATHAN THOMAS TO BE INDUCTED INTO WPA HALL OF FAME
Published Wed 19 Apr 2023
In the countdown to the 2023 Water Polo Australia (WPA) Annual Awards, WPA is pleased to unveil the Hall of Fame inductees for 2021 and 2023.
CLICK HERE to get your tickets to the 2023 Water Polo Australia Annual Awards, that will include presentation of the Hall of Fame inductees.
The Water Polo Australia Hall of Fame recognises those individuals who have made an exceptional contribution over an extended period of time to water polo as a player, administrator, coach, referee or in another capacity.
Dual Olympian Nathan Thomas is the latest to be named as an inductee to the Water Polo Australia (WPA) Hall of Fame.
In representing Australia in Water Polo at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Thomas became Australia’s first Indigenous water polo Olympian. Four years’ later, Thomas would again make history becoming Australia’s first Indigenous player to captain a water polo team.
Thomas is one of three Indigenous water polo players to play for Australia, the others being Dean Semmens and Joel Swift.
His international playing history included 319 caps for Australia over a career that started in 1993 and included the Sydney and Athens Olympics, two World Cups and Four World Championships.
For more than a decade, Thomas played for the UNSW Wests Magpies, before representing Sydney University, where he played 246 games and scored 499 goals.
In 2007, Thomas was awarded the Harry Quittner Medal for Meritorious Serivce to Water Polo Australia. He was also named in the WPA Team of the Decade.
More recently, Thomas has turned to coaching where he led the UTS Balmain U16 and U14 Girls to the 2016-2017 National Championships where they won a bronze and three gold medals. In 2022, Thomas coached the UTS Balmain Tigers men to an Australian Waterpolo League bronze medal.
Away from the pool deck, Thomas is the Co-Chair of the WPA Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group. He is also on the Australian Olympic Committee’s Indigenous Advisory Committee. He has also held the roles of ASC Athlete's Commissioner, was the inaugural WPA Athletes Commission Chair on the Board, Water Polo NSW (WPNSW) Country Director and WPNSW Director and Treasurer.
JOIN US as we celebrate the 2023 WPA Annual Awards in Sydney, NSW. Tickets are now on sale. CLICK HERE to find out more.
