Women of Troy Grab Medals As FINA World Championships Wrap Up In South Korea

The 2019 FINA World Championships came to a close on July 27 in Gwangju, South Korea with six Trojans on the medal stand on the women's side of competition. In all, USC had 18 past and present Trojans representing their countries at the event, with 11 women and seven men in the mix. Four Women of Troy — Kaleigh Gilchrist, Stephania Haralabidis, Paige Hauschild and Amanda Longan — had a hand in propelling the United States to its third consecutive FINA World Championship. Former Trojan Anni Espar, meanwhile, snagged a silver medal with Spain, and former Trojan Hannah Buckling helped Australia to bronze. With the United States already qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games, Spain's silver medal secured the Spaniards a place in Tokyo as well.

USC also had representation on Canada and the Netherlands rosters on the women's side. Current Trojan Maud Megens scored 20 goals for the Dutch team — second most by all competitors — along the way to their seventh-place finish. Team Canada boasted two USC grads in Joelle Bekhazi and Hayley McKelvey, who helped their Canadian squad to a ninth-place finish at the event.

Haralabidis and Megens were both named to the Media All-Star Team.

On the men's side, three Trojans — Joel Dennerley, Blake Edwards and Lachlan Edwards — combined forces to push Australia to a sixth-place finish. Former teammates Kostas Genidounias (Greece) and Tobias Preuss (Germany) squared off in the seventh-place game, where Genidounias' Greek squad was able to beat Preuss' Germans. The U.S. men, meanwhile, had two current Trojans in action. Hannes Daube would serve up the game-winning goal for Team USA in the ninth-place game, where he and teammate Marko Vavic saw the United States to a 15-14 win over Montenegro to wrap their run at the event. Daube was the USA's second leading scorer with 13 goals tallied.

This year's FINA World Championship also featured a Beach Water Polo event, which had two Women of Troy competing in the exhibition action. For Team USA, former Trojan Brigitta Games won a gold medal in the women's beach competition, while current Trojan Alejandra Aznar earning silver with Spain's beach team.

TROJANS AT 2019 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WOMEN
AUSTRALIA (Bronze)
Hannah Buckling

CANADA (9th)
Joelle Bekhazi
Hayley McKelvey

NETHERLANDS (7th)
Maud Megens

SPAIN (Silver)
Anni Espar
BEACH (Silver): Alejandra Aznar

USA (Gold)
Kaleigh Gilchrist
Stephania Haralabidis
Paige Hauschild
Amanda Longan
BEACH (Gold): Brigitta Games

MEN
Australia (6th)
Joel Dennerley
Blake Edwards
Lachlan Edwards

Germany (8th)
Tobias Preuss

Greece (7th)
Kostas Genidounias

USA (9th)
Hannes Daube
Marko Vavic

Players Mentioned

Alejandra Aznar

Hannes Daube

Paige Hauschild

Amanda Longan

Hayley McKelvey

Maud Megens

Marko Vavic