Genevieve Longman

Stingers goalkeeper Genevieve Longman fell into water polo by accident – and she’s made quite a splash.

Genevieve grew up in Perth, where she was a sporty kid, happy to give anything a try.

“I grew up playing pretty much anything I could, anything with a ball,” Genevieve said. “Netball, soccer, all the sports.

“I filled in one day as a goalkeeper for a water polo team in Perth and I loved it. I loved the challenge, I loved the team aspect and the individual aspect too. It’s such a tactical game, but also such a physical game.”

Genevieve describes herself as “not the most natural swimmer”, so being a goalkeeper was where she found her home. “The adrenaline when you save a shot is incredible,” she said.

After strong form in the Australian Water Polo League, Genevieve made her national team debut for the Aussie Stingers in 2019 and has been a member of the squad since.

In 2022, she was part of the team that finished sixth at the World Championships in Budapest.

Genevieve was also in the Stingers squad in Fukuoka, Japan for the 2023 World Aquatic Championships, where Australia finished fourth. After a tight 12-10 loss to Spain in the semi-finals, the Stingers lost the third-place play-off to Italy 16-14.

At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Australia finished sixth, beating Britain 20-8 in the round of 16 before going down by a point to the USA in the quarter-finals.

Genevieve has a bachelor in international relations from the University of Western Australia and a postgrad law degree from the University of Technology Sydney.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Genevieve and the Stingers became the most successful Australian water polo team ever at an overseas Olympic Games.

Their silver medal performance was close to being gold, going down 11-9 to world number one Spain in the gold medal match.

They got there with an undefeated run in the group matches against the Netherlands, Hungary, China and Canada with two of those wins coming via penalty shootout. They took out Greece in the quarter-finals and world powerhouse the USA in the semis in another penalty shootout.

Gabi Palm and Genevieve took it in turns in goal throughout the shootout against the USA, a tactic deployed by coach Rebecca Rippon.