Marcus Berehulak

At 21 years old, Marcus Berehulak is one of the youngest Aussie Sharks heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With the Brisbane local's dad playing socially while Marcus was growing up, it was no surprise that he got into the sport through his father's training sessions at age 11.

It was known from the get go that he had talent and in 2018, aged 15, Marcus won senior sportsperson of the year at Indooroopilly State High School.

From 2019 to 2022, the youngster developed his game further, playing for the Queensland Thunder in the Australian Water Polo League (AWPL).

But it was also in 2022 that the 18-year-old got his opportunity at the international stage, making his debut for the Aussie Sharks at the 2022 World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru where Australia finished second, losing narrowly to United States in the final 7-6.

In the following year, Marcus solidified his name and represented the Sharks at the FINA World Cup and also competed for the U20 Australia side at the FINA Junior World Cup.

Marcus also competed in the 2023 FINA World Championships, a feat he considers to be his career highlight to date.

As of 2024, Marcus signed for Croatian club VK Jadran Split, making his debut in March. Marcus has previously applied his trade for the ACU Cronulla Sharks in the AWPL as well.

He represented Australia again in the 2024 World Championships in Doha, where they finished 11th. The 201cm tall defender earned 21 caps before his Olympic debut as a 21-year-old.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Marcus 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.