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| Lea
YANITSAS |
| Sport |
Water Polo |
| NOC |
Australia
|
| Gender | Women |
| Born | 15 Mar 1989
in Sydney, AUS |
| Height | 1.72 m |
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Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
Former Australian water polo captain Debbie Watson was her school teacher. Her older sister also played the sport. "It was a random sport for me, but I was inspired and saw what Debbie had achieved. I was however not a water athlete. I played touch football and netball and mostly ran in high school, and I didn't know much about the sport at all. So when I went to the trials I was a poor swimmer, but my netball reflexes and leg strength from running made for a good goalie so that is where I ended up. I always dreamed of going to the Olympics but you can't do that with touch football or netball, so I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to give it my best and have a go." |
General Interest |
Hero / Idol |
Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman, Australian water polo player Alicia McCormack. (theaustralian.com.au, 25 Jun 2016; waterpoloaustralia.com.au, 01 Jul 2013) |
Sport Specific Information |
Preferred position / style / stance / technique |
Goalkeeper |
Handedness |
Right |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She began competing in water polo at age 14 in Sydney, NSW, Australia. |
International Debut |
Year |
2009 |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete, Physiotherapist, Student |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
UNSW Wests Killer Whales: Sydney, NSW, AUS |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Physiotherapy - University of Sydney: Australia |
Residence |
Sydney, NSW, AUS |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Paul Oberman [national] |
International Debut |
Competing for |
Australia |
Further Personal Information |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” [Thomas Edison] (education.olympics.com.au, 10 Nov 2016) |
Injuries |
She missed the 2014 international season because she broke her finger in five places. (galabid.com, 01 Jan 2015; aquaticsuperseries.com.au, 17 Dec 2014) |
Famous relatives |
Her husband Andrew has coached water polo at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, NSW, Australia. (waterpoloaustralia.com.au, 06 Apr 2017) |
Awards and honours |
In 2020 she was named Sportsperson of the Year by Bayside Council in Victoria, Australia. (theleader.com.au, 31 Jul 2021; Bayside Council Facebook page, 26 Jan 2020)
She was named Best Goalkeeper in the Australian Water Polo League in 2018. (randwick.nsw.gov.au, 07 Nov 2018)
She was named in the 2015 Australian Water Polo League All-Star team. (dailytelegraph.com.au, 11 May 2015) |
Further Personal Information |
Family |
Husband Andrew, son Constantine [2018] |
Other names |
Lea Barta |
International Debut |
Location |
Canada |
General Interest |
Other information |
MATERNITY BREAK
She returned to training with the national team in 2019 after giving birth to her son Constantine [Dino] in 2018. "Getting back in the pool felt great, I loved the feeling of moving my body again, of stretching out and of achieving goals separate to mummy life. It was tough though. The logistics were a bit of a nightmare, so much planning, when or how was Dino going to sleep, or eat, did I pack enough clothes, enough nappies, enough everything. But we got the hang of it. Training on zero sleep was a whole new level of exhaustion." (abc.net.au, 13 Nov 2021, 21 Jul 2021; greekherald.com.au, 03 Jun 2021; wateruknow.com, 30 Oct 2019)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2021 she became member of Female Performance and Health Initiative Athlete Reference Group at the Australian Institute of Sport [AIS]. "The only way to achieve the best from our athletes is to understand them as a whole human. As a mother returning to elite sport myself, I encountered multiple barriers in returning to training and I would like to see fewer barriers, better education, more resources and research available to athletes on their specific health concerns." (Instagram profile, 15 Nov 2021; abc.net.au, 13 Nov 2021, 21 Jul 2021; ais.gov.au, 14 Jul 2021)
OTHER STUDIES
She has studied for a master's degree in continence and women's health physiotherapy at Curtin University in Perth, WA, Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Dec 2021) |
Most influential person in career |
Her husband. (neoskosmos.com, 03 Jun 2021) |
Olympic Games |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 5 |
2021 |
Tokyo, JPN |
Team |
|
| 6 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
Team |
|
World Championship |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 3 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
Team |
|
| 8 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
Team |
|
| 4 |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
Team |
|
| 2 |
2013 |
Barcelona, ESP |
Team |
|
World Cup |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 2 |
2010 |
Christchurch, NZL |
Team |
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