Anna "Anni" Espar Llaquet (born 8 January 1993) is a Spanish water polo player who won the gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. She also won the silver medal at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
College career Espar joined the University of Southern California women's water polo team in 2012.Anni Espar – University of Southern California athlete profile at USCtrojans.com As a Freshman she was named to the ACWPC All-America First Team,"Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches 2013 All-American Teams" collegewaterpolocoach.org July 2013. All-MPSF First Team,"All-MPSF Women's Water Polo" mpsports.org 1 May 2013 MPSF All-Newcomer Team and MPSF Player of the Week on 25 February after scoring 8 goals in her first major tournament as a Trojan."USC Wins UC Irvine Tournament" mpsports.org 25 February 2013.
In 2013, she won the NCAA in the longest match in championship game history."USC Outlasts Stanford 10–9 In Five Overtimes To Claim 2013 NCAA Championship" usawaterpolo.org 12 May 2013. Espar scored the winning goal in the third sudden-death overtime period."Espar scores in third sudden death to secure third national title for USC" ncaa.com 9 June 2013.
International career Espar played on the Spain national team which won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She scored 15 goals and was named to the Olympic All-Star Team.
In 2012 Espar was named Best European Female Water Polo Player by the LEN."Boskovic and Espar European Players of the Year" waterpoloworld.com 24 October 2012.
Espar joined the Sydney Uni Lions women's water polo team in 2017 winning the Australian League and ending with an unprecedented undefeated season for the Lions (23 wins and a draw in 24 matches). Espar was also named to the 2017 NWPL All Star Team."SYDNEY LIONS CLAIM BACK TO BACK NWPL TITLES" waterpoloaustralia.com.au 9 April 2017.
Espar also played on the Spanish national team which won the silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She scored again 15 goals and was named to the Olympic All-Star Team for the second time in her career.
Personal life Espar's younger sister, Clara, is also a professional water polo player.
International competitions 2011 FINA Junior World Championships, Trieste, Italy, 1st place."Spain on the top of the world" FINA.org 18 September 2011. 2012 Olympic Games, London, United Kingdom, 2nd place. 2013 FINA World Championships, Barcelona, Spain, 1st place. 2013 FINA Junior World Championships, Volos, Greece, 2nd place."USA takes gold after 9–7 win over Spain" FINA.org 25 August 2013. 2014 European Championship, Budapest, Hungary. 1st place."World champions Spain also claim European Title" waterpoloworld.com 24 July 2014. 2014 FINA World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, 3rd place."USA retains World Cup crown with repeat win over Australia" FINA.org 17 August 2014. 2016 FINA World League, Shanghai, China, 2nd place."USA crowned World League Champion for third consecutive year" FINA.org 12 June 2016. 2017 FINA World Championships, Budapest, Hungary, 2nd place."Day 7 Women's Water Polo: USA rolls Spain for fifth world crown" FINA.org 28 July 2017. 2018 LEN Europa Cup, Pontevedra, Spain, 3rd place. 2018 Mediterranean Games, Tarragona, Spain, 1st place.“Serbia and Spain reign the Mediterranean” waterpology.com 1 July 2018. 2018 European Championship, Barcelona, Spain, 3rd place. 2019 FINA World Championships, Gwangju, South Korea, 2nd place. 2020 European Championship, Budapest, Hungary. 1st place. 2020 Olympic Games, Tokyo, Japan, 2nd place. 2024 Olympic Games, Paris, France, 1st place.
See also List of women's Olympic water polo tournament top goalscorers
References
External links
Anni Espar Llaquet at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link)