John Hedges

From a young age it looked as though John was destined to play water polo. His sister, former Aussie Stingers goalkeeper Lilian Hedges, was already playing at the time which influenced John to take up the sport too.

As the goalkeeper developed through his teenage years, by the time he finished high school at age 17, he made the move to the USA, choosing to play water polo and study business administration finance at the University of the Pacific in California.

Facing his biggest challenge yet, and being on the other side of the world, it was time for John to prove himself.

Starting as a freshman in 2017, John impressed for the Pacific Tigers, playing 22 out of 24 matches, making 185 saves and being in the top three in the conference for steals per game with a 3.42 average.

It was then in 2019 that John got a chance to shine for his country, at the FINA Junior World Championships.

In 2021, John's final season with the Pacific Tigers, he impressed yet again, playing all 22 games, making 227 saves, four assists and 16 steals.

After his time in the USA was finished, John went back to Australia, although this time he moved to the east coast, where he played for the UNSW Wests Tigers, winning the 2022 Australian Water Polo League in his first season with the club.

With the 2022 FINA World Championships around the corner, John was selected and made his debut for the Aussie Sharks, finishing eleventh in the tournament.

Soon after, John was on the move again as he signed for Spanish club CN Sant Andreu in Barcelona, where still plays.

John played in the 2023 FINA World Cup as well as the 2023 and 2024 FINA World Championships, stamping himself as a regular in the squad ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics John and the Sharks recorded statement wins over defending Olympic champion Serbia, host nation France and Hungary in the group stage.

Finishing second in their group, it gave Australia a place in the men's Olympic quarter-finals for the first time since London 2012.

A penalty-shootout loss to the USA in the quarter-finals sent the Sharks into the 5th-8th classification games and they came away in 8th place, up from the team's 9th overall placing at Tokyo 2020.