600 Internationals for 'Westie'!

As many people in our water polo community would know, SNB Breakers' very own Mike ‘Westie’ Westdorp recently commentated his 600^th international game during the 19^th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

We caught up with Westie to discuss his achievement, and life behind the mic.

What was the first game you commentated, or remember commentating?

"My first time on the mic for a water polo match was during the 1995 Women's World Cup at SOPAC. I had been doing Sydney club rugby for the Manly Marlins for about a year prior so wanted to have a go at water polo. (I still do home games for the Marlins). At the 1995 world cup I did announcing on some matches and was a table official on the rest of the games. I can't remember which teams played in the first match I did on the mic. I do remember some of the AUS matches especially when AUS def NED in the final. My great friend and now co-commentator Debbie Watson captained the side.

The 2022 World Championships is my 4th along with 4 Olympics. I have worked at 35 events across 10 countries to amass 619 senior internationals. Add youth and junior internationals and I'm currently at 683 matches."

Over your now 27-year career, what has been your most memorable game?

"The Sydney 2000 Women’s Gold Medal match is a stand-out. I have never experienced the atmosphere and tension in a stadium quite like that night. The roar of 17,000 people behind me when Yvette Higgins scored the winning goal with 1.3 seconds remaining still gives me goosebumps when I think about it. I felt myself move forward in the chair from the rush of air when the stadium erupted.

I love medal ceremonies. To get to say "Olympic Champions and Gold Medallists" as the team steps on the dais never gets old. To say it for the Aussie women in Sydney winning the inaugural Women's Olympic title, unparalleled.

Some other events have come close but not quite. The men's final in Athens 2004, HUN v SRB was pretty special. Hungary came back from 3 goals down, twice in the match, and kept Serbia scoreless in the back half of the game to win their second of 3 straight Olympic golds. There were 10,000 plus in the stadium that night. To watch the joy on the faces of the Hungarian supporters and see them dancing in fountains after the games was special.

80,000 at Stadium Australia for a Wallabies v All Blacks is pretty good, I was the Wallabies and NSW Waratahs ground announcer for 14 years."

Out of the countless players you’ve called, who has been your favourite player you’ve commentated?

"So many come to mind. Every Australian player has a special place. I really liked the Spanish men's team of the late 90's early 2000's. Their goalkeeper Jesus Rollan was a fantastic keeper and a real character. May he rest in peace. And to witness one of the greatest players of all time, Manuel Estiarte, play in two of his 6 Olympics and also win a world title in 1998 in Perth was amazing. He was the leading goal scorer at 4 Olympic Games. Unstoppable, his hand speed / shot speed was incredible. In recent times we have all marvelled at the USA Women's dynasty. Four straight world titles in Hungary, will Paris be 4 straight Olympic titles. Quite incredible."

What do you enjoy most about doing what you do?

"What's not to like. At Olympics and World Championships I get to sit pool side watching the best of the best do their stuff. For me, my mantra as always been "It's about the athletes". It doesn't matter what level, I try to enhance the experience for the players. My role is to act as a conduit between the players and the spectators. If I can help draw the spectators into the match by highlighting the great plays I'm doing my job. The spectators feed energy to the players. In turn they rise up and give back to the crowd who feed more energy to the players. When it's in full swing, it's an inspiring back and forth between the athletes and the spectators. At major events I work as part of the sports presentation team. We use music, video, and vocals to pump the crowd up and invite them into the match. American sport is a prime example of sports presentation at the highest level. The athletes are the reason to be there, they just make a show of the entire process. I've been lucky enough to work with some of the top professionals in sports presentation across the globe. Take the sports DJ'S, the best of them, and I've worked with quite a few, create a sound scape in the venue that just gets you going. I quite often sit back and marvel at their ability to find the right piece of music for the moment that just keeps the spectators engaged. Kurt Hanson and I pioneered live in venue play by play commentary at water polo matches in Australia more than 10 years ago. FINA now let us do it at major events. It's so much fun."

With 27-years and over 600 games in the books, what are your plans for the future? Any ambitions?

"Just keep doing what I'm doing. A dream would be for FINA to say we want you for all our water polo events globally. I would like to keep going at least up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, it still seems like yesterday when I started and if this is work, keep it coming. It's easy to turn up when it’s your passion. No spectators in Tokyo, no problem. We became the crowd to fill the stadium with love, and noise for the athletes.

Beyond 1000 matches would be a goal. It is much easier to get a run of matches these days. The whole sports presentation industry has matured over the years and events have a greater understanding of the benefits of having quality sports presentation. I also love doing commentary on the live streams. It's a natural progression from live announcing.

A world championship is 96 games in 14 days. I generally do half of those. Olympics is 66 matches in 14 days, Sydney 2000 there were 3 of us. In Athens I did every game. In Rio and Tokyo I did around 40 matches at each. A combined Men's and Women's World league is 48 matches in 6 days. I've done a few of those. That’s a marathon. I hit 500 matches at the 2019 Gwangju World Champs, 550 at Tokyo 2020 (one) Olympics and it was nice to hit 600 at the Mecca of water polo; the Alfred Hajos Stadium on Margaret Island in Budapest, Hungary.

I was inspired to keep track of my matches by FINA media man Russell McKinnon. I know he's written stories on more than 1000 world championship games and would be heading towards 3000 for all his media work. 1000 games for me is definitely achievable. Bring it on."

Water Polo NSW and the entire community thanks Westie for his contributions to our great sport.

You’ll hear from Westie alongside the legend, Debbie Watson, from Saturday October 8 where Sydney Super League returns to pools all across NSW and streaming live on CluchTV.