Meet Tamworth's newest golden girls.
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The Tamworth open women's water polo side are celebrating a historic triumph after taking out the NSW country championships title in Mittagong.
In defeating the Albury Sharks 8-6 in the gold medal game, the side etched Tamworth's name on the silverware for the first time.
Co-captain, and long-time Tamworth representative, Libby Magann said on Tuesday it was still sinking in. It's something she has been striving to achieve for, as she put it, "a long time".
"I'm still a bit in awe of the girls and can't believe we actually did it," she said.
She described the feeling when the final whistle blew as "amazing" and said it was pretty special receiving their gold medals and the trophy.
"We were stoked to get the trophy," Magann said.
It will be rotated around the households over the next 12 months and is sure to take pride of place.
"It's one we haven't seen in Tamworth so we'll be sure to look after it," she said.
After breaking through for their first medal at the championships for a long time two years ago and backing up with bronze again last year, and with the local competition starting to get some momentum, Magann said it felt like they were building.
They were missing some of their youngster stars such as Mikayla Gross, Giaan White and Lucy Hofman this year but were fortunate to pick up a couple of handy players in the draft in Chelsea Clarke and Julia Barton.
Barton is co-captain of the Hunter Hurricanes' Australian Water Polo League side, and Tamworth District Water Polo Association publicity officer Gail Salter said her combination with Magann was a real strength for them.
"We had a really good mix of players," Magann said, adding that they "couldn't have done it without our B grade ladies that stepped up".
"We called them our super subs."
She also made mention of Bianca Watson stepping up to the opens level for the first time.
"She was fantastic coming off the back of the Australian Youth Championships," she said.
Watson who turned 17 on Tuesday, played for NSW Country in the under-18s division.
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Tamworth marched into the final without dropping a game but knew it was going to be a close tussle, having edged out the Sharks by only a goal in their pool clash.
There was nothing in it going into the final quarter with scores locked at 5-all.
Salter, who was one of the "super subs" said they snuck out to a two-goal lead with two quick goals in the fourth.
The Sharks pegged one back but Tamworth were never headed, a goal in the final minute sealing the victory.
Salter said overall it was a really good competition.
"It's probably one of the most competitive competitions for the women's that I can remember," she said.
"All the scores were fairly tight."
Magann is hoping their success might inspire a few more to get involved in the future.
"Hopefully some of the ladies in Tamworth can see, that there are pathways they can play outside of their local club," she said.
"I hope we're able to convince more ladies to go away and have a good time playing water polo."
