Thanks to Covid-19, water polo royalty and Kiwi-turned-Australian Olympian Joe Kayes is back to play for Tauranga men at the national championship this month.
Matt Hansen from Tauranga Water Polo couldn’t be happier.
“He’s actually been the kid we've all looked up to throughout, I don’t know, school and everything,” Hansen said.
“But he's obviously a bit more experienced now days - we're pretty lucky.”
Kayes’ return later this month will be his first appearance in more than 10 years but the 29-year-old says it’s like he never left.
“This has been a nice extended stay and training with a lot of the old faces I've grown up with and back with my brother; having him around has been good fun,” Kayes said.
Kayes has played all over the world, including professional leagues in Europe and even captained Australia. He was set to go to this year's Tokyo Games.
But it's not just Kayes making an unexpected return to the competition with Kiwis on US scholarships also bolstering the competition.
“It would be nice for this to be a bit of a springboard for the men’s competitions to come and for the women’s because there's a lot of those athletes who're back in the country,” Kayes added.
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