Former Hartwick College water polo players Bronwen Knox, Sophie Smith and Lisa Gibson will compete in the Summer Olympics in London.
Knox and Smith will represent Australia, and Gibson will play for the host country.
"What a great time for Hartwick water polo," ninth-year Hartwick coach Alan Huckins said in a media release by the college. "Bronwen, Sophie, and Lisa were all great student-athletes while at 'Wick and all three showed potential to be future Olympians. We could not be prouder of them and wish them luck in London."
The Olympics run from July 27 to Aug. 12. The eight-team water polo tournament begins July 30 and ends Aug. 9.
Knox has represented the Australian national team consistently for the past seven years as a forward and defender. She has helped "the Stingers" to a gold medal at the 2006 FINA World Cup in Tianjin, China, and silver medals at the 2007 World Championships (Melbourne, Australia), the 2010 World Cup (Christchurch, New Zealand) and the 2010 World League Super Finals (La Jolla, CA). She also assisted in securing Australia a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games four years ago.
Smith, a center back/driver, has spent the last four years on the Australian national side. She joined Knox on the silver medal-winning 2010 World Cup and World League Super Finals teams. She also competed at the 2011 FINA World League competition in Auckland, New Zealand and in the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China the same year.
Gibson is in her fifth year competing for Great Britain. A center forward, Gibson helped her country to the European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in January for the first time in 15 years. She also played in the World University Games (Shenzhen, China) and the U-20 European Championships (Naples, Italy). This summer will mark the first time in history the British women's water polo team will participate in the Olympics.
While at Hartwick, Knox led the nation in goals in 2006 with 127 en route to becoming a Second Team All-America. As a freshman, she was recognized as an honorable mention
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All-America following her 102-goal, 31-assist effort in 2005. Despite playing two years, she ranks among the program leaders in goals (229), steals (209), and points (286).
Smith played alongside Knox on the 2005 team, which went 28-9 and won the CWPA Northern Division title. She was a CWPA Northern Division First Team pick and selected to the AWPCA All-Academic Team. Her 84 steals in 2005 ranks sixth in Hartwick history.
Gibson played for the Hawks in 2008, helping them to their eighth straight division title. She had 21 goals and six assists. Gibson contributed 16 steals, eight drawn kick-outs and was named to the AWPCA All-Academic Team.
The teams are separated into two groups in the preliminary round. Each team will play the other three in its group with all eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
Australia and Great Britain compete in Group B, along with Russia and Italy. Group A features China, Hungary, Spain, and the United States. On July 30, the British open play against Russia with the Australians facing Italy.
