The gold medal win by the Australian women’s water polo team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics was a source of great inspiration. It got people talking about water polo, young kids playing it and was the birthplace of many a sporting dream.

For Aussie Stingers’ star Glencora Ralph, not only did it lead to her love of the game, but it gave her the feeling of what it would be like to stand on that medal dais.

As Ralph and her Stingers teammates continue their preparation towards London 2012, we caught up with the Geraldton local to discuss her Olympic dream and her journey from country Western Australia.

“Making the Olympics would be a dream come true, a reward for the years of commitment and sacrifice, however the ultimate reward would not only be selection but taking home the gold,” Ralph said.

“Growing up in Geraldton, Karratha and Exmouth, I always dreamed of going to the Olympics and after watching the gold medal in Sydney I was definitely spurred on and encouraged.

“Now that I’ve got this opportunity, I’m not leaving anything to chance. I need to ensure I’m as fit and skilled as possible, and I think every game I get to play from now until London is an opportunity to focus on what I need to work on and what I need to do to improve as a player.”

At age 23 and with over 100 test caps for Australia under her belt, Ralph has become one of the senior players in the squad.

She was named in the team of the tournament after Australia’s win at the 2011 Canada Cup, and played a starring role in the Stingers’ triumph at the 2012 Water Polo Pan Pacs in Melbourne.

With positions in the team’s top 13 on the line, Ralph has excelled in her rise to the top level and the Como girl now has her sights on taking on the world’s best and having her own ‘golden’ moment.

“As I've gained experience from those tournaments I feel more confident and understand my role in the team better,” Ralph said.

“There's pressure in any situation to perform, and while it hasn’t increased as my role has changed, I’ve enjoyed the challenge of stepping up.

“To get in a situation at the Olympics like Yvette Higgins’ in Sydney, would be an amazing achievement for anyone's career and I would love to be able to do that for the team.

“From now until London we will be preparing for pressure situations like that, where we are all confident in our own ability to do whatever it takes to score the winning goal and if we were able to emulate what happened in 2000 that would be incredible.”

The Stingers have had a fantastic start to 2012 losing just one game en route to claiming the Water Polo Pan Pacs and a three match test series against the USA.

After a disappointing world championship campaign, there is now light at the end of the tunnel and Ralph believes the girls are on track to help Australia become the first nation to win two women’s water polo Olympic gold medals.

“We've had a solid start to 2012, which is so far very pleasing. There's no room for complacency though, which means we still have a lot of work to do if we want gold in London.

“We had that mishap at the 2011 world championships which I don’t think indicated how strong our team was, but we came out in Melbourne and showed the world what we can do.

“At the end of the day, we believe we are capable of beating every team in the world, and it’s just being able to stay mentally tough in the pressure situations like that of the Olympics.”

Water Polo Australia Inc.