Sports · Other Sports · 2 hrs ago
Water polo hopeful says rising costs threaten Olympic ambitions
Water polo player Tenealle Fasala is aiming for Los Angeles 2028 after missing selection for the Paris Games.
The 22-year-old played in every World Championships and World Cup team for three years but was named as a reserve for Paris.
The cost and demands of competing have weighed heavily on her, after years of training and travel brought financial hardship.
Fasala plays for the Brisbane Barracudas while working at a hospital, studying nursing and raising funds.
She has had to balance sport with work and study, and chose to leave her job and support network to help the Australian team prepare for Paris.
Her father, Greg Fasala, won silver in swimming at the 1984 Olympics, giving her a personal connection to the Games.
She is now focused on another Olympic attempt, though the story gives no estimate of what competing will cost.
Water polo player Tenealle Fasala says rising costs and the financial strain of pursuing Olympic selection threaten her ambitions.
Fasala, 22, missed selection for Australia’s team at the Paris 2024 Games after serving as a reserve.
She is now focused on trying to reach the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Fasala plays for the Brisbane Barracudas while working at STARS hospital, studying nursing and fundraising.
Her father, Greg Fasala, won silver in a freestyle relay at the 1984 Games.
- Who
- Tenealle Fasala, a water polo player with the Brisbane Barracudas.
- What
- She says the escalating costs and financial hardship of competing threaten her Olympic ambitions.
- When
- She missed selection for the Paris 2024 Games and is now aiming for Los Angeles 2028.
- Where
- Fasala plays for the Brisbane Barracudas and works at STARS hospital in Herston.
- Why
- She says the expense and financial hardship of pursuing Olympic selection make it difficult to continue.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fasala travelled to Japan for the World Championships after a month in camp.
She competed at the World Championships in Doha after preparing in camps in Sydney and Canberra.
Fasala was named as a reserve and did not make the Olympic team.
- Age
- 22
- Olympic target
- Los Angeles 2028
- Club
- Brisbane Barracudas
- Workplace
- STARS hospital in Herston
- Father
- Greg Fasala won silver in a freestyle relay at the 1984 Games
1 source
What people are saying
After Paris and not making that team, and feeling that devastation and all the financial hardship that went into it, it was so hard for me to turn around from that and bounce back.
I decided I would regret not being part of that.