Sophie Smith

Sophie Smith (born 26 February 1986) is an Australian water polo player. Her position of choice is centre back/drive. She has played for the Victorian Tigers and the Queensland Breakers in the National Water Polo League. She has represented Australia in water polo on the junior and senior level, winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2005 FINA Junior World Championships and at the 2010 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup.

Early life and education

Smith was born on 26 February 1986 in Brisbane. She attended the Brisbane Girls Grammar School. In 2005, she was living in Brisbane, Queensland. She attended Hartwick College in New York on a water polo scholarship. She has also played for the Brisbane Barracudas, and was on the 2008 squad. The annual match between KFC Breakers and Barracudas is one the Courier Mail considers a grudge match. She participated in the 2008 edition with her team. In 2012, she played for the Victorian Tigers. She has also played club polo in the United States and Italy. She was part of the Australian junior national team that competed at the 2005 World Junior Championships held in Perth, Western Australia. The team beat Greece 10-4 for the bronze medal game. The team's only loss in the tournament was a 4–5 loss to the United States. In Australia's semi-final victory over Russia, she fouled out. In May 2010, she was a member of the team that competed at the FINA World League Asia-Oceania zone held in Osaka, Japan and Tianjin, China. In 2011, she was one of five Queensland women to compete for the Australians Stingers at the FINA World League competition held in Auckland, New Zealand. In July the same year, she was a member of the Australian Stingers that competed in the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai. In preparation for this tournament, she attended a team training camp in Perth, Western Australia. She competed in the Pan Pacific Championships in January 2012 for the Australian Barbarians. In February 2012, she was named to the final training squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and as such, will attend a training camp starting on 20 February 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport.