William John Berge Phillips

Water polo

William grew up in Mosman attending Mosman Primary School. His father was very active in the administration of swimming in Australia which sparked an early interest in the water for William.

He used to go down the The Spit Swimming Club with his father as a child and he became a member of Balmoral Swimming Club in 1950 at the age of seven.

In 1962 he was selected for the NSW Water Polo Team and played for NSW in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1971.

In 1964 he was part of the Australian Olympic Water Polo Team that competed at the Tokyo Olympics. He remained a member of the Australian Water Polo Team until 1968. He went on to play for the Australian team in Europe in 1965 and 1967 and in Mexico in 1968.

In 1962 while studying for a Diploma of Law at Sydney University he was awarded a Water Polo Blue.

He continued to play water polo into his 40s.