The Gladesville-based water polo player AJ Roach, the son of the National Rugby League enforcer Steve Blocker Roach, has opted not to follow in his father’s footsteps despite playing the sport in high school.
Aidan “AJ” Roach, a two-time Olympian and water polo star based in Gladesville, confesses that he’d prefer not to join his father in the professional rugby scene — a sharp contrast from numerous other father-son duos in sports such as Wayne and Mitchell Pearce, Matty Johns and his two children Jack and Cooper, as well as Kevin and Billy Walters.
Born in 1990, AJ Roach began his professional water polo debut at 19 years old. Despite the fact that he’d played rugby during his teen years, AJ confessed that he was clumsy on land and found much more comfort maneuvering in the water. He’d learned that rugby wasn’t his strong suit the hard way, playing the sport until he turned 15.
In 2009, at the age of 19, AJ made his debut with the Aussie Sharks, the Australian Men’s water polo team, and he also managed to win a gold medal at the World University Games. Since then, his water polo career had gone swimmingly.
In fact, AJ Roach became a certified Olympian shortly afterwards, having competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, as well as the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He also competed in the 2011 FINA World Championships.
To this day, he still plays with the Aussie Sharks, bidding to go to his third Olympic Games later this year by vying for a spot in the Tokyo Games, which are scheduled to take place between the 23rd of July and the 8th of August 2021.