Nathan's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Water Polo
Event: Men
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1993
Born: Newcastle
About Nathan
Newcastle-born Nathan Power is not shy of international experience, having begun playing professionally in the Croatian league with Jadran Split Club in 2016.
“I still remember back in 2013 we had a World Championships there, my first one for Australia actually, and at the time I thought that would be a great place to live in,” Nathan said.
Europe has been Nathan’s second home, later swapping Croatia for Spain in 2020 when he signed for CN Barcelona.
“Changing scenery and changing culture is something that goes along with the challenge of playing at a new club.”
Rising to the Sharks challenge has blended well with Nathan too. He’s played over 100 caps for Australia since his Sharks debut in 2013.
Tokyo held a special place for Nathan as he was picked for the Rio 2016 squad but had to withdraw due to injury.
Speaking on his ambition for the games he said;
“The big goal on the horizon at the moment is the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo. Having been in the Australian team since 2013 and seen how we have developed as a group I truly believe we are on track to push for Australia’s best result in the men’s water polo competition".
Nathan has applied the same diligence and patience in his academic goals as he has with his Olympic dream.
Wanting to do a Bachelor of Economics at UNSW, he was initially unable to gain a place but enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts having to complete the necessary units – part-time due to water polo - before being allowed to transfer to Economics.
“I was never fazed by the fact that my study was going to be for an extra few years,” he said. “Part-time study meant I was never overloaded with work on top of my athletic commitments, and I was able to always feel confident and focused on the coursework I had in any given term.”
Power realised his Olympic dream making his debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games. Victories over Croatia and Kazakhstan earnt Australia a 2-3 record at the culmination of the group stage of the tournament. But this would unfortunately not be enough for the Aussies to stay in contention for Olympic medals, finishing 5th in their group based on head-to-head rulings.
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