Meriden’s water polo gun Nioka Thomas nabs Uni of California Irvine scholarship
She’s the daughter of an Olympian with her sights firmly set on emulating her fathers feats.
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Water polo teen Nioka Thomas has her sights firmly set on playing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris - via a detour to the US.
The Meriden year 12 student has been awarded a scholarship to the University of California Irvine to play water polo and study from next year.
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The 17-year-old is treading a new path with the move as the first female from outside the US to be invited into the prestigious program run by the assistant coach of the Rio Olympic gold medal winning women’s team.
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“The US is a great place to play water polo at the highest level while getting an academic career. It’s very exciting,” said Nioka, preparing for her HSC at her Strathfield school.
“I am thinking of study environmental management policy.”
Nioka’s father Nathan is a former captain of the Australian men’s water polo team with more than 300 international, caps and two Olympic Games under his belt, including Sydney in 2000.
But rather than pushing her into the sport, Nioka revealed her father actually held her back at the start of her career.
“I’ve been playing since I was 11 so six years now,” said Nioka, who represents both her school and the famous Balmain club and lives in Leichhardt.
“I grew up watching dad and always wanted to play it.
“He held me back a couple of years. I wanted to start at nine but he said how about you learn to swim properly and get better first.
“I was gutted.”
Nioka, whose first name means green hills in aboriginal, made her senior debut for Australia against Kazakhstan last year and is hoping to crack the Stingers team for the 2024 Olympics.
Australia has a strong history in women's water polo at the Olympics with the host winning gold at the Sydney Games.
Originally published as Meriden’s water polo gun Nioka Thomas nabs Uni of California Irvine scholarship
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