The ADF water polo team secured fifth place in the Australian country championships in Queensland in early May, taking on strong competition including national representative-level players.
The men's team played six games over the tournament and one practice game during the training week.
It was Seaman Scout Warman-Flood's first year representing the ADF.
"You have to be solid in the water and proficient at treading water," he said.
"Basic coordination for catching and throwing the ball is also necessary."
Corporal Alex jones has been involved since 2020 and said the event was very competitive.
"Apart from knowing you're playing among people who have represented Australia on the world stage, just the presence and the conversation," he said.
"There's always really good communication between those teams."
Corporal Jones said the ADF team had reduced team numbers because of late deployments.
"A couple of national league players there said that our team was really competitive," he said.
"If we had a full bench like we'd planned up until a week or two out from the event, we could have been really competitive."
The NSW team stood out as the strongest competitor, ultimately winning the competition 9-8 against the ACT.
The most valuable player of the ADF team was Flight Lieutenant Peter Spearman, who was selected for the 2025 Australian country team.
"He's been a leader of the team for around eight years and he's now the association president," Corporal Jones said.
"It means a lot to him and also the team to be getting one of our own named in the tournament seven."
Out of all the state teams participating, only seven players were chosen for the team.
