Four years ago, Fairfield School pupils had no idea what water polo was.
Now they have some of the best water polo players in the South Island - the school's team recently won the B grade at the South Island Intermediate Schools Water Polo Championships.
Team coach Amy Monaghan was delighted with the tournament win.
She said the team scored 49 goals in the competition and only had nine goals scored against them, which belied their relative inexperience in the game.
Mrs Monaghan said she introduced the water sport to pupils at Fairfield to give them a reason to use their swimming skills.
''It gives them a chance to shine.
''They may not be the best netballer or rugby player, but if you are a strong swimmer, you can really shine in water polo.''
Mrs Monaghan said the game was physically demanding, especially for intermediate-aged pupils, because it was played in pools at least 1.8m deep and the swimmers were not permitted to touch the pool floor, so they had to tread water for the 45-minute game.
The seven-man team (one goalie and six field players) had to work carefully as a team, passing the ball to each other to get it from one end of the pool to the net at the other to score points.
Mrs Monaghan said the team trained hard and were competitive in the Dunedin Intermediate Schools Water Polo competition at Moana Pool each week.
Three of their pupils, Hannah Hedges, Madeline Pleace and Thomas Woodfield (all 13), have been selected for the Otago under-14 water polo team.
It was hoped the school's success in water polo would continue to the point where former pupils would one day represent New Zealand.
