Water Polo Canada National Teams to start their road to Paris 2024 at the PanAm Aquatics Championships in Brazil

Championships for the U17 are also scheduled April 2-8

Ottawa, March 30, 2023 - Water Polo Canada will send its Men’s and Women’s Senior National Teams to Bauru, Brazil, April 2-8, for the PanAm Aquatics Championships, where they will be aiming to earn their ticket for this summer’s World Aquatics Championships - which, in turn, will be the first qualifying competition for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the sport of water polo. Water Polo Canada’s U17 National Teams will also be in action at the PanAm Aquatics Championships, with the goal of taking part in the World Aquatics 2024 World Youth Championships.

At the senior level, the two finalist teams from the PanAm Aquatics Championships, both on the women’s and the men’s side, will earn spots at the World Aquatics Championships to be held this summer in Fukuoka, Japan. This large-scale competition, which will showcase the four aquatic sports, will be the first opportunity for countries to qualify for the Olympic water polo tournament set to take place at the Paris 2024 Games.

The Canadian women’s team that will compete at the PanAm Aquatics Championships will include five members from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic group: Axelle Crevier, Élyse Lemay-Lavoie, Hayley McKelvey, Kindred Paul and Emma Wright.

“We are all excited to go to Bauru for the tournament,” said the Women’s Team Captain, Emma Wright. “It will be a good opportunity for us to come together as a team after time apart, and also to prepare for the big summer ahead!”

Since the World Aquatics (FINA) Championships were first held in 1986, Canada has qualified for every competition, winning two silver and two bronze medals.

An experienced men’s team
On the men’s side, eight players who represented Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games will be on this year’s PanAm Aquatics Championships squad, including Nicolas Constantin-Bicari, Jeremie Côté, Bogdan Djerkovic, Aleksa Gardijan, Matthew Halajian, Gaelan Patterson, Milan Radenovic and Aria Soleimanipak.

"We are going to Brazil with the clear goal of qualifying for this summer’s World Championships," said Jérémie Blanchard, captain for the men’s team. "I believe in our group and in our potential. We had a good training camp in Greece a few weeks ago, and we feel ready to go compete in Bauru. This is the first official competition of a very important year that is upcoming, so we intend to make the most of it."

The men’s team has taken part in every World Aquatics Championships competition since the second edition was held in 1975, except for the 2019 tournament. When the Championships were last held in 2022, the Canadian team took the 16th and last spot. Several team members tested positive for COVID-19, which led to the team’s forced withdrawal.

Canadian referees Evan Andrews (SK), Lyle Brooks (ON), Chad Hogg (QC) and Hélène Painchaud (QC) and will also be in action in Brazil.

PanAm Aquatics Water Polo U17 Championships
Water Polo Canada’s U17 National Teams will also be in action in Bauru at the PanAm Aquatics Championships.

This age category competition, which is held every two years, showcases athletes who are 17 years old and under, i.e. born in 2006 or later. A maximum of 12 countries representing the four zones of the Americas will be in action and will compete against each other in the men’s and women’s categories, looking to qualify for the World Aquatics 2024 World Youth Championships (date and location to be confirmed). The top four or five men’s teams and the top four women’s teams at the competition in Bauru will earn a spot to compete at this event in 2024.

The last time the PanAm Aquatics Water Polo U17 Championships were held, in 2019 in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, the Canadian men’s and women’s teams respectively finished in 4th and 2nd place. The 2021 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian teams that competed in 2019 included current Men’s and Women’s Senior National Team Talent Pool athletes Justin Côté, Alicia Petkov, Rose Kanemy and Serena Browne.

Canada’s best-ever performance at the PanAm Aquatics Water Polo U17 Championships was 3rd place on the men’s side, earned in 2013, 2015 and 2017, whereas the women’s top result was 1st place, registered at the first-ever edition in 2011.

More information, including schedule for the event, is available on Water Polo Canada website at www.waterpolo.ca.

Canadian Teams at the 2023 PanAm Aquatics Water Polo Open and U17 Championships
Women’s Senior National Team
Bakoc, Verica (Toronto, ON)
Cowan, Ella (Stony Plain, AB)
Crevier, Axelle (Montréal, QC)
Ferguson, Ashley (Pointe-Claire, QC)
Jaffe, Rachael (Toronto, ON)
Lemay-Lavoie, Elyse (Montréal, QC)
Lizotte, Myriam (Gatineau, QC)
McDowell, Blaire (Fernie, B.C.)
McKelvey, Hayley (North Delta, B.C.)
Mimides, Maria Eleni (Marilia) (Glyfada, GRE, & Toronto)
Paul, Kindred (Spruce Grove, AB)
Van Dyke, Adrien (Regina, SK)
Wright, Emma (Whitby, ON)

Men’s Senior National Team
Blanchard, Jérémie (Longueuil, QC)
Constantin-Bicari, Nicolas (Repentigny, QC)
Côté, Jeremie (Pointe-Claire, QC)
Djerkovic, Bogdan (Ottawa, ON)
Diacenco, Ion (Montréal, QC)
Gardijan, Aleksa (Gatineau, QC)
Halajian, Matthew (Montréal, QC)
Joudrie, Bryant (Calgary, AB)
McKnight, Brody (Regina, SK)
O'Donnell, Jason (Montréal, QC)
Patterson, Gaelan (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Radenovic, Milan (Montréal, QC)
Soleimanipak, Aria (Montréal, QC)

Support Staff :
Women’s Senior National Team
Head Coach: David Paradelo
Assistant Coach: Cora Campbell
Massage Therapist: Manon Prieur
Physiotherapist: Brian Li

Men’s Senior National Team
Interim Head Coach: Gyula Toth
Assistant Coach: Rodrigo Rojas
Athletic Therapist: Serena Finlayson

Team Manager: Mitch Kaufman

Water Polo Canada 2023 Women’s Youth (U17) National Team
Jaya Basu (Montreal, QC - CAMO)
Cianne Benjamin (Toronto, ON - Shadow Water Polo Club)
Natalia Blazevic (Vancouver, B.C. - Pacific Storm Water Polo Club)
Penny Cowan (Stony Plain, AB - Edmonton Tsunami Water Polo Club)
Abigail Folk (Ashburn, ON - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Andjelina Gavrilovic (Surrey, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Shaya Ghasemzadeh Oghyani (Oakville, ON - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Sydney Krushen (Regina, SK - Team Sask)
Tasha Kulenovic (Vancouver, B.C. - Pacific Storm Water Polo Club)
Nicole O'Neill (Calgary, AB - Oaks Christian/Calgary Renegades)
Brooklyn Plomp (Ottawa, ON - Diablo Alliance/Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Melania Segulja (Burnaby, B.C. - Surrey Water Polo Club)
Alexandra Stoddard (Abbotsford, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Makayla Ulmer-Lutudromu (Regina, SK - Team Sask)
Maddie Watson (London, ON - Forest City Water Polo Club)

Alternates
Taya Bumpas (Regina, SK - Team Sask)
Riley Milne (Burnaby, B.C. - Pacific Storm Water Polo Club)
McKenna Pineda-McLean (Calgary, AB - Calgary Renegades)
Anna Ulmer (Regina, SK - Team Sask)

Head Coach: Krystina Alogbo (Montreal, QC)
Assistant Coaches:
Christi Bardecki (Toronto, ON - Toronto Triggerfish/Toronto Water Polo Club)
Raine Paul (Spruce Grove, AB - Edmonton Tsunami Water Polo Club/Surrey Water Polo Club)

Water Polo Canada 2023 Men’s Youth (U17) National Team
Kai Brierley (Westmount, QC - CAMO)
Joseph Chiasson (Montreal, LaSalle borough, QC - CAMO)
Tate Falconer (Hamilton, ON - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Parker Forsberg (Abbotsford, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Austin Hexter (Surrey, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Nathan Johnson (Abbotsford, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Jason Joseph (Montreal, QC - CAMO)
Ivan Khramtsov (Mississauga, ON - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Sawyer McCormick (Calgary, AB - Calgary Torpedoes)
Sean O'Neill (Calgary, AB - Oaks Christian)
Jacob Rogers (Calgary, AB - Calgary Torpedoes)
Reid Tatemichi (Regina, SK - Team Sask)
Colin Thomas (Toronto, ON - Shadow Water Polo Club)
Marko Todorovski (Mississauga, ON - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Nolan Ung (Calgary, AB - Calgary Torpedoes)

Alternates
Ilya Belyaev (Langley, B.C. - Fraser Valley Water Polo Club)
Adrien MacDonald (Longueuil, QC - CAMO)
Zander Velestuk (Regina, SK - Team Sask)

Head Coach: Bogdan Dubrovskiy (Toronto - Mavericks Water Polo Club)
Assistant Coach: Maxime Crevier (Montreal, QC - CAMO)