Alicia McCormack (born 7 June 1983) is an Australian former

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. She played for the Cronulla Water Polo Club in the National Water Polo League and was a member of the

Australia women's national water polo team The Australia national women's water polo team represents Australia in women's international water polo competitions and is controlled by Water Polo Australia. It was one of the most successful women's water polo teams in the world. It is curr ...

. Although she did not play water polo in 2010 due to injury, McCormack has won gold medals at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

and the 2006 FINA World Cup; a silver medal at the 2007 FINA World Championships; and bronze medals at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 2005 FINA World League Super Finals, 2008 FINA World League Super Finals and 2009 FINA World League Super Finals.

Personal life

McCormack was born on 7 June 1983 in

Helensburgh, New South Wales Helensburgh is a small town, located south of Sydney and north of Wollongong and north and above the Illawarra escarpment and region. Helensburgh is in the Wollongong City Council Local government in Australia, local government area. It is sur ...

. She is tall, weighs , is right handed and has a tattoo featuring the Olympic rings. McCormack entered Helensburgh Public School in 1988 as a kindergartener and later graduated from

Kirrawee High School Kirrawee High School is a comprehensive co-educational high school located in Kirrawee, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The school was opened in 1966 and now caters for around 1,200 students, most continuing their education from three local pri ...

. She began a Bachelor of Primary Education while on scholarship at the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS). Her partner is a Navy clearance diver. McCormack was at a barbecue attended by

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

when he visited

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 2010. At the barbecue, people ".... were surprised by the amount of "royal" attention McCormack, the Australian goalkeeper and a member of the ronzemedal winning team at the Beijing Olympics, received especially when Prince William was seen to bow to the amused McCormack at a barbecue." In 2010, McCormack was working at the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high-performance-sports training institute in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides coaching, performance support, and daily training environments to help t ...

as the personal assistant to Charles Turner, the chief executive of the organisation. Subsequently, McCormack married Ben Smith with whom she has two sons. After working for Water Polo Australia in administration and coaching, McCormack and her family traveled around Australia for 12 months. In 2017, the McCormack Smith family moved to

Canowindra Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and the largest population centre in Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Cabonne Shire. The town is located between Orange, New South Wales, Orange and Cowra, New South ...

in the Central West of NSW where they have a farm. McCormack is also pursuing a career in real estate and property management.

Water polo

McCormack is a

, and prefers to wear

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

number thirteen. She started playing water polo when she was fourteen years old for the

team. In 2000, she represented New South Wales on the state junior team. She has a water polo scholarship from the

Club water polo

McCormack played her club water polo for the Cronulla Water Polo Club in the National Water Polo League, serving as the team's head coach in 2010 when she was unable to play due to a shoulder injury. She returned to the playing roster in 2011, while also serving as an assistant coach on the team. She continued her involvement with the club into the 2012 season – during which she helped the side to 8–4 and 7–4 wins in the first two games of the season. She took a break from the Cronulla team following their 18 February 2012 game in order to attend the national team training camp.

Senior national team

McCormack was a member of the

. She played her first game with the senior team at the 2003 Holiday Cup in the United States. In 2005, she was part of the side that won a bronze medal at the FINA World League Super Finals in Kirishi, Russia. That year, she was also part of the team that finished sixth at the FINA World Championships in Montreal, Canada. Alicia McCormack

In 2006, McCormack won a gold medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. That year, she was also part of the Australian side that finished fourth at the FINA World League Super Finals in

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She was also part of the 2006 FINA World Cup team in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, that won a gold medal. In a 2007 Asia-Oceania qualifier for the World League Super Finals, she made seventeen saves in a 19–2 victory against Japan. She was part of the 2007 silver winning side at the FINA World Championship in Melbourne, Australia. She played in goal in the December 2007 series against New Zealand where Australian won the first two tests 18–1 and 17–1. McCormack was part of Australia's Oceania Olympic qualification campaign in 2008. In an 18–1 victory over New Zealand during the qualifiers, she made twelve saves. She was named to the team that competed in 2008 at the FINA world league preliminary round in Tianjin, China. In a 2008 Asia-Oceania qualifier against China for the World League Super Finals, she played in the 11–9 win that went to a penalty shoot out. She helped the team win by making a two handed stop of a Chinese shot in the last minutes of the game. She competed in the FINA World League Super Finals in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where Australia took home a bronze medal. She won a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

as a member of the Australia women's national water polo team. Her team ended up in the bronze medal match after losing 8–9 to the United States in the semi-finals and playing against Hungary for the bronze. Earlier in the Olympics, her team had tied the Hungarians. In 2009, McCormack was part of the Australian side that finished third at the FINA World League Super Finals in

Kirishi Kirishi (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Kirishsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volkhov River, southeast of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as ''Soltsy'' (unti ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. She was also part of the team that finished sixth at the

FINA World Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: Swimming (sport), swimming, Diving (sport), diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, in 2009. In April 2011, she attended a training camp at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

where the coach was "selecting a team for the major championships over winter." She competed in a warm-up match for the 2011 FINA World League against Italy in Ostia, Italy, in July that Australia won 12–11. In February 2012, she was named to the final training squad for the

. She attended training camp that started on 20 February 2012 at the

. The team of seventeen players will be cut to thirteen before the team departs for the Olympic games, with the announcement being made on 13 June. She was part of the Stingers squad that competed in a five-game test against Great Britain at the AIS in late February 2012. This was the team's first matches against Great Britain's national team in six years. At the

, she was part of the team that won bronze.

References

External links