Gold rush in Perth as Team UNSW shines at UniSport Nationals

Team UNSW has returned from the 2026 UniSport Nationals in Perth with seven national championship titles, a host of podium finishes and deep finals runs across a massive week of competition against universities from around Australia to finish 3rd overall. 

More than 5,400 student-athletes descended on Perth for five days of competition across 30 sports, with UNSW represented across one of the broadest sporting programs at the championships.

The Black and Yellow enjoyed success across the week, highlighted by national championships for Men’s Division 1 Volleyball, Women’s Division 1 Badminton, Men’s Division 2 Basketball, Men’s Division 1 Taekwondo, Women’s Division 1 Taekwondo, Taekwondo Overall and Men’s Division 1 Fencing.

Beyond the six titles, UNSW reached podiums across a host of sports. Mixed Netball, Men’s Table Tennis and Women’s Division 2 Volleyball claimed silver, while Mixed Beach Volleyball and Dodgeball returned home with bronze. The medal haul stretched well beyond the traditional team sports, with UNSW also collecting two silvers and a bronze in Rowing, silver and bronze in Sailing, and silver and bronze in Cycling, while Kendo added another individual bronze.

Volleyball

One of the performances of the entire week came from the UNSW Men’s Volleyball team, which completed a brilliant campaign by defeating UTS 2–1 in the Division 1 Gold Medal Match to become 2026 national champions. UNSW established itself as a contender immediately, opening with a straight-sets 3–0 victory over ECU2 before repeating the result against Notre Dame. A 2–1 win over Tasmania followed, with the only early setback coming in another three-set contest against Curtin.

The response was emphatic, with UNSW sweeping James Cook 3–0 before closing its pool campaign with another straight-sets victory, this time over traditional rivals Sydney University. That form carried into the knockout stage, where UNSW dispatched Adelaide University 2–0 in the Division 1 quarter-final before advancing through the semi-final and earning a shot at UTS for the national title. The final went the distance, but UNSW held its nerve when it mattered most, prevailing 2–1 to claim the Division 1 championship. It represented a huge step forward after the men finished fifth at Nationals in 2025 and capped a campaign in which UNSW won eight of its nine matches. EAP athletes Andrey Butko, Ashley Parkes, Brendan Carroll, Karan Dahiya, Henry Pham, Mobin Shafeian, Joshua Tato, Nathan Trinh, Markus Zarak and Justin Zhang were among the elite athletes attached to UNSW’s volleyball program.

The UNSW Women’s Volleyball team also made a deep run of its own. After beginning with a 2–1 win over Macquarie, UNSW swept Notre Dame and Avon 3–0 before difficult matches against James Cook and Federation University. Placed into Division 2 for the knockout rounds, UNSW responded strongly, defeating Murdoch 2–0 in the quarter-final and Macquarie 2–0 in the semi-final. That booked a place in the Division 2 Gold Medal Match against Western Sydney University, where a three-set battle eventually went Western Sydney’s way 2–1, leaving UNSW with an excellent Division 2 silver medal. EAP athletes attached to the women’s volleyball program included Stephanie Aixim Duong, Bianca Infante, Amanda Khor, and Annabella Ran.

Badminton

UNSW’s women continued the University’s extraordinary recent run in badminton by winning the Division 1 national championship. The team was dominant throughout the round-robin stage, sweeping UWA2, Murdoch, UWA, ECU and Curtin 5–0 before continuing the run with another 5–0 victory over Melbourne. Macquarie was dispatched by the same scoreline before UNSW completed its preliminary campaign by beating Sydney University 5–0.

That set up a Gold Medal Match against Melbourne and, after having already swept its opponent earlier in the week, UNSW delivered again when the title was on the line, winning 3–1 to secure gold and complete an unbeaten tournament. EAP athletes Sydney Tjonadi, Victoria Tjonadi, Akira Wong and Isabella Yan were among the UNSW badminton contingent.

The UNSW Men’s Badminton team came agonisingly close to joining them on the podium. UNSW opened with consecutive 5–0 victories over UWA2 and Murdoch before narrowly losing 3–2 to Adelaide, then bounced back to defeat Curtin 4–1 and Macquarie 5–0 before another tight 3–2 result went Melbourne’s way. A crucial 3–2 win over Sydney University in the repechage kept the medal campaign alive and sent UNSW into the semi-finals, where Adelaide prevailed 3–0. That set up a bronze-medal rematch against Melbourne and once again virtually nothing separated the teams, with Melbourne eventually edging UNSW 3–2 to leave the men fourth overall. EAPs Rishi Mayur and Roshan Rajkumar were among the elite athletes attached to the men’s badminton program.

Basketball

UNSW’s basketball program delivered another national title, with the Men’s Division 2 team crowned champions after progressing through the week and finishing the tournament on top of its division. The result added another gold medal to an already outstanding Nationals for UNSW and underlined the depth of the University’s basketball program. EAP athletes attached to the men’s program included Leon Bailey, Oliver Beerden, Melvin Chan, Angus Skrbinsek, Lachie Stone, Kai Tropman, Marquis Tropman and Kevin Yang.

The UNSW Women’s Basketball team also fought through a competitive week, opening with a 27–21 victory over Griffith and later recording a convincing 30–14 win over UWA. Moving into the Division 2 classification rounds, UNSW finished on a high with a 28–13 victory over Monash2 to secure seventh place in Division 2. The women’s basketball EAP contingent included Danielle Campos, Renee Chen, Maddie Coman, Pippa Davis, Kirsty Gill, Cara Mcilroy, Emily Nguyen, Elouise Pelaez, Victoria Vale and Octavia Williams, reflecting the considerable high-performance depth across UNSW basketball.

Taekwondo

Few sports delivered more success for UNSW than taekwondo, with the Black and Yellow completing a clean sweep of the championship standings. UNSW was crowned Men’s Division 1 and Women’s Division 1 national champions, while also finishing first overall across the combined competition with 135 points. The UNSW men accumulated 45 points to finish ahead of Melbourne on 33 and Sydney University on 29, while the women were particularly dominant, amassing 82 points to finish 16 clear of second-placed Monash. A further eight points from pairs poomsae completed UNSW’s overall tally, comfortably ahead of Monash on 104 and Sydney University on 91.

The championship was built on depth across sparring and poomsae, with UNSW athletes featuring throughout the belt and weight divisions. UNSW also collected a string of podium results in poomsae, with K Cheang and M Taylor winning the Yellow Belt pairs competition, ahead of fellow UNSW combination M Fuad and A Sahin in second, while UNSW combinations featured prominently across the team categories. The black-belt results also featured UNSW athletes Aleena Farrukh, Emma Nguyen, Isabella Loi, Adina Tan, Peixi Ge, Kieren Nguyen, Nicholas Chan, Hayden Lam, Lihong Ding and Ryan Lee, with Chan recording a second-place individual poomsae result.

EAP athletes Aleena Farrukh, Xuxun Huang, Ryan Lee, Emma Nguyen and Natasha Poschalk were among the elite athletes attached to the taekwondo program, with Farrukh, Huang and Poschalk also appearing across the sparring draws. With contributions coming throughout the men’s and women’s competition, the result delivered UNSW both Division 1 team championships and the overall UniSport Nationals taekwondo crown.

Fencing

Fencing provided UNSW with another major championship result, with the men crowned Division 1 national champions after finishing on top of the men’s point score with 41 points. Unlike the traditional head-to-head team sports, the fencing championship rewarded results across foil, sabre and épée in both individual and team competition, and UNSW scored in every men’s discipline.

The Black and Yellow collected five points in individual foil and six in team foil before a particularly strong sabre campaign produced three individual points and the maximum 14 points from the team event. UNSW added another three points in individual épée and 10 from team épée to reach 41, putting the men comfortably clear at the top of the standings ahead of UWA on 32 and Melbourne on 27.

The women’s squad contributed a further 20 points, including 10 apiece from the sabre and épée team competitions. That took UNSW to 61 points overall and second across the combined men’s and women’s fencing championship, behind Sydney University on 86, while the men’s performances across all three weapons secured another Division 1 national title for the Black and Yellow.

Football

Twelve months after winning a memorable men’s national title, UNSW returned to Nationals with another strong football contingent. The Men’s Football team began its title defence brilliantly, defeating the combined Newcastle/UWA side 2–0, ECU 3–0 and Charles Sturt 2–0 to open the tournament with three consecutive victories without conceding a goal. A 1–1 draw with Western Sydney followed before La Trobe handed UNSW its first defeat, 2–1, but the Black and Yellow had done enough to reach the knockout rounds.

Their title defence was ultimately halted in the quarter-finals by Wollongong, which won 2–0. UNSW responded strongly in the classification rounds, defeating Canberra 3–0 before beating Charles Sturt 5–3 in the fifth/sixth playoff to secure fifth overall. EAP athletes Andrew Chen, Ahmed Codmani, Benjamin Cook, William Friend, Nicolas Graziano, Thomas Hynes, Angus Martin and Lucas Mounarath were among the elite athletes attached to the men’s football contingent.

The UNSW Women’s Football team went even deeper, reaching the Division 1 semi-finals and ultimately finishing fourth in Australia. UNSW opened with a 2–0 win over Canberra and 2–2 draw with Macquarie before beating Monash 1–0 and UWA 2–1. After progressing from the pool, UNSW defeated the combined Newcastle/UNE team 2–0 in the quarter-final before Western Sydney prevailed 1–0 in a tense semi-final. That sent UNSW into the bronze-medal match against Sydney University, where the cross-town rivals proved too strong. EAPs Amelia Dixon, Tiff Fung, Elizabeth Kerkham, Alexandra Nealand and Charlotte Priddy were among the elite athletes attached to the women’s football program.

Netball

UNSW’s Mixed Netball team came within one game of another national championship, ultimately taking Division 1 silver after an excellent campaign. The team announced itself with a huge 92–6 victory over Federation University before progressing through the tournament into the Division 1 knockout rounds, where UNSW defeated Melbourne University 63–41 in the quarter-final.

That set up a semi-final against Victoria University which became one of the closest matches of UNSW’s entire Nationals campaign. With a place in the national final on the line, UNSW edged Victoria University 61–60, surviving by a single goal to advance to the Division 1 Gold Medal Match. The final against UWA was another high-scoring affair, with the hosts eventually prevailing 67–54 to leave UNSW with national silver. EAPs Reuben Hansen and Nicholas Mulquiney were among the elite athletes attached to UNSW netball.

The UNSW Women’s Netball team also enjoyed several strong performances, opening with a 37–29 win over Monash and 41–28 victory over Canberra. Later in the week UNSW defeated Swinburne 55–16 before beating Queensland 32–28 in its classification round. The campaign finished emphatically with a 50–28 victory over Federation University in the Division 1 ninth-place match. EAP athletes Steph Reade, Zalii Reid and Abigail Worswick were among the women’s netball contingent.

Rugby Sevens

UNSW’s Men’s Rugby Sevens team produced one of the more unpredictable campaigns of the week, showing it could compete with the leading sides despite eventually finishing sixth. The tournament began with a heartbreaking 19–17 loss to Newcastle, but UNSW responded immediately with one of its best performances, defeating UTS 20–7 before following with a dominant 31–5 victory over Monash.

The knockout stage proved less forgiving, with Macquarie edging UNSW 17–10 in the repechage and moving the Black and Yellow into the fifth/sixth playoff against the combined ECU/UWA/Curtin team. The WA combination won the final classification match to leave UNSW sixth overall. The squad featured a particularly strong EAP contingent, with Kalan Cusick, Daniel Fa, Heath Hall-Muir, Finnley Harding and Tahi Sue all attached to the Rugby Sevens program.

Hockey

UNSW was represented in both hockey competitions, although the men competed as part of a combined UNSW/UOW/UTS team. The combined side had a difficult opening against RMIT, losing 4–2, before Curtin recorded a 4–0 win. The team found its rhythm against UWA2 with an important 5–3 victory and followed with a 2–1 win over Monash to reach the quarter-finals, where Melbourne narrowly ended its medal hopes with a 1–0 victory.

The response through the classification rounds was impressive, with the combined side defeating UWA2 1–0 and Sydney University 3–2 before drawing 3–3 with Curtin2. Those results ultimately placed the UNSW/UOW/UTS combination fifth overall. EAP athletes Henry Kirton, Kai Schreiber-Pitters and Henry Tyree were among the elite athletes attached to UNSW hockey.

The UNSW Women’s Hockey team endured a more challenging week, opening with a tight 1–0 defeat to ANU/Canberra before facing UTS, ECU, UWA, Monash and Sydney University through the pool stage. The campaign concluded with one of the closest matches of the week, with Murdoch edging UNSW 5–4 in the 13th/14th playoff, leaving UNSW 14th overall.

AFL Nines

UNSW’s Mixed AFL Nines team finished seventh overall after an up-and-down campaign that featured several impressive victories. UNSW began with a 63–41 win over UniSC and followed with an even more convincing 75–22 victory over the combined Charles Sturt/Deakin side. UTS won a high-scoring encounter 75–65 before eventual champions Victoria University and Murdoch also prevailed during the pool stage.

In the classification rounds, UNSW pushed Monash all the way before falling 54–47, sending the team into the seventh-place playoff against Macquarie. The Black and Yellow finished the tournament strongly, winning 46–24 to lock away seventh place. EAP athletes Chad Buckman, Ashleigh James and Lexie Tait were among the elite athletes attached to the AFL program.

Table Tennis

The UNSW Men’s Table Tennis team produced one of the strongest runs of the tournament to finish as national silver medallists. UNSW defeated Sydney Gold 3–2 before sweeping UWA 3–0 in the repechage and shutting out Macquarie 3–0 in the quarter-final. A commanding 3–0 semi-final victory over Monash sent UNSW into the national championship match against UTS, where UTS prevailed 3–0 to leave the Black and Yellow second in Australia. UNSW2 also reached the seventh/eighth playoff, eventually losing 3–1 to Macquarie and finishing eighth. EAPs Nicolas Chee, Ian Kim and Stephen Liu were among the elite athletes attached to the men’s table tennis program.

The UNSW Women’s Table Tennis team came desperately close to a medal of its own. UNSW defeated Monash 3–2 before producing consecutive 5–0 sweeps over Melbourne and Macquarie to complete an unbeaten pool stage, then carried that momentum into a 3–0 quarter-final victory over UWA. Macquarie reversed the earlier result in a gripping semi-final, edging UNSW 3–2, before another five-tie contest in the bronze-medal match went Monash’s way by the same score. UNSW therefore finished fourth overall, with EAP Megan Sun among the elite athletes attached to the women’s table tennis program.

Tennis

The UNSW Men’s Tennis team reached the Division 2 medal matches after an eventful campaign which began perfectly with a 5–0 sweep of QUT. A narrow 3–2 defeat against UWA2 followed before Sydney University won the final pool encounter 5–0, but UNSW responded emphatically once the knockout draw began.

The Black and Yellow swept ECU 5–0 in the Division 2 quarter-final before La Trobe ended their championship hopes with a 3–0 semi-final victory. UNSW met ANU in the bronze-medal match, where ANU prevailed 3–1 to leave the Black and Yellow fourth in Division 2. EAP athletes Saanvi Kondamuri and Jamie Lau were among the elite athletes attached to UNSW tennis.

Touch Football

The UNSW Mixed Touch team produced an impressive pool campaign before finishing sixth in Division 1. The tournament started with a dominant 13–1 victory over Notre Dame and, after a loss to Newcastle, UNSW bounced back emphatically to beat UniSQ 15–1. A 9–6 defeat against ACU followed, but UNSW responded with a tight 4–3 win over UWA. UniSC edged UNSW 9–8 in one of the closest games of the pool stage before the Black and Yellow finished the preliminary rounds with another huge win, beating ECU 15–1.

UNSW then defeated Griffith 7–2 in the Division 1 classification stage, setting up a fifth-place match against Macquarie. Again there was almost nothing in it, with Macquarie escaping with a 6–5 win to leave UNSW sixth in Division 1. EAP athlete Alex McIllwraith was among the elite athletes attached to UNSW Touch.

Ultimate

The UNSW Ultimate team had a difficult opening to its tournament but finished strongly to secure ninth overall. Placed in a tough pool, the Stubbies lost to UWA 15–6, Deakin 13–6, Monash 15–4 and Sydney University 13–6 before responding when the competition moved into the lower classification pool.

UNSW defeated UTS 11–7 and backed it up with an 11–9 victory over Curtin, winning both of its Pool J matches to secure ninth place and finish the week with consecutive victories. EAP athletes Mayley Gao, Anita Ung and Rosie Ward were among the elite athletes attached to the Ultimate program.

Beach Volleyball

UNSW fielded multiple combinations across the beach volleyball program. In the Men’s competition, the leading pair opened with a 2–0 win over UWA2 before losses against Adelaide2 and Curtin, with a final pool defeat to James Cook moving the pair into the Division 2 bracket. Sydney University Blue won the quarter-final 2–0 before UNSW defeated UTS 2–1 in the classification stage. Curtin2 prevailed in the fifth/sixth playoff, leaving UNSW sixth in Division 2. UNSW2 endured a tougher opening pool but finished strongly with wins over James Cook2 and UWA2 to secure ninth in Division 2.

UNSW's strongest result on the sand came in the Mixed competition, where the leading UNSW pairing won bronze. After wins over Adelaide, Charles Sturt and UTS, UNSW defeated Deakin 2–0 in the repechage before pushing Sydney University Gold in a tight semi-final. Sydney prevailed 2–1, sending UNSW into the bronze-medal match against UTS, where the Black and Yellow responded emphatically with a 2–0 victory to claim third place. UNSW2 also enjoyed a strong campaign, defeating Deakin 2–0 in the fifth/sixth playoff to secure fifth overall.

The UNSW Women’s Beach Volleyball team faced a challenging draw against ECU, UniSA and Adelaide and pushed both Swinburne and UWA2 to three sets in narrow 2–1 defeats. The team continued through the classification stage, closing its scheduled campaign with a forfeit victory over Swinburne.

Dodgeball

UNSW claimed another national medal in the Mixed Dodgeball competition, beginning with a dominant 10–0 victory over Bond before drawing 5–5 with QUT. Monash proved the benchmark of the competition, but UNSW responded from its first loss with a 13–1 victory over Bond and continued through the medal rounds.

The Black and Yellow ultimately earned another meeting with Bond in the bronze-medal match and saved one of their strongest performances for last, winning 11–1 to claim bronze and finish third nationally.

Futsal

The UNSW Men’s Futsal team endured a difficult opening pool, falling to Notre Dame 7–3, Bond 4–2 and RMIT 6–4, but the Black and Yellow responded superbly once the competition moved into the Division 2 classification stage.

UNSW edged UniSC 6–5, defeated Murdoch 7–2 and won another high-scoring encounter against ECU2 8–6, before a 6–6 draw with QUT2 completed an unbeaten classification run of three wins and a draw. That recovery saw UNSW finish fifth in Division 2.

Oztag

UNSW's Mixed Oztag team was edged 10–8 by UniSC early in the competition before responding with a tight 12–11 victory over ANU. A 15–8 win over ACU added another victory as the Black and Yellow progressed through the tournament and into the classification rounds.

UNSW met Southern Cross University in the seventh/eighth playoff and produced one of its strongest performances of the week when it mattered, winning 11–4 to secure seventh place overall.

Lacrosse 5s

UNSW faced a challenging campaign in Mixed Lacrosse 5s, opening with losses to Monash 15–5 and Sydney University 11–2 before further matches against RMIT, Melbourne, UWA and ECU. The Black and Yellow found their breakthrough once the tournament moved into the classification stage, reversing an earlier result against RMIT with an 8–4 victory before completing the competition against ECU. EAP Keith Looi was among the elite athletes attached to UNSW lacrosse.

Water Polo

The UNSW Men’s Water Polo team endured a demanding round-robin draw before finishing with consecutive victories to secure fifth overall. Tasmania won the opening match 16–9 before defeats against the combined Newcastle/Wollongong side, UTS and Sydney University. UNSW broke through emphatically against ANU with an 18–4 victory, before later moving into the fifth-to-seventh classification pool and defeating ANU again, this time 10–4.

That left a rematch against Tasmania with fifth place at stake and, having lost to them in the opening round, UNSW turned the result around when it mattered most, winning a thriller 15–14 to secure fifth overall. EAPs Randal Li and Rhys Patten-Richens were among the elite athletes attached to the men’s water polo program.

UNSW athletes also combined with ANU in the Women’s Water Polo competition, facing a demanding schedule against Sydney University, UTS, Macquarie, UWA, Bond, UniSC, ACU and Newcastle. The team's closest result came against Bond, where just one goal separated the sides in a 9–8 defeat, with the ANU/UNSW combination ultimately finishing ninth overall. EAPs Ella Howard, Nell Payne and Lexie Tait were among the elite athletes attached to UNSW women’s water polo.

Cycling

UNSW’s cycling campaign was led by Jeremy Cannon, who returned from Perth with two individual medals from an outstanding three-event program. Cannon claimed bronze in the Men’s Road Race, finishing third over the 76km course, before going one better in the Men’s Criterium to take silver, missing the national title by just 0.193 seconds.

Those performances earned Cannon 13 individual championship points and fourth place overall in the men’s individual standings. He also started the Individual Time Trial but did not finish. With Cannon UNSW’s sole point scorer, his 13 points were enough to place the University fifth overall in the cycling championship, adding another two medals to UNSW’s haul from the week.

Golf

UNSW was represented by George Story and Nana Homma across the three-round golf competition at Gosnells Golf Club.

Story contested the men’s competition and posted rounds of 87, 83 and 91 for a gross total of 261. Playing off a daily handicap of four, he recorded nett rounds of 83, 79 and 87 for a nett total of 249. Homma represented UNSW in the women’s competition, carding rounds of 94, 98 and 91 for a gross total of 283, while her nett scoring produced rounds of 72, 76 and an excellent final-round 69 for a nett total of 217.

Kendo

UNSW also reached the podium in Kendo, with Daniel Park claiming bronze in the Men’s Kyu Individual competition.

Park’s third-place finish earned UNSW its championship point in the overall standings and placed the University seventh overall in the men’s point score. With UNSW represented on the national podium despite its smaller contingent, Park's result added another individual medal to a growing collection across the Nationals program.

Rowing

UNSW’s rowers added three more medals to the University’s Nationals tally across a busy three-day regatta, with the strongest results coming in the lightweight events. In the Men’s Lightweight Double Scull, UNSW raced to silver in 7:50.09, finishing behind UWA and just 1.11 seconds clear of Melbourne in third. A second UNSW crew also reached the final and finished fifth.

Another silver followed in the Women’s Lightweight Single Scull, where UNSW crossed in 9:09.61, just 6.07 seconds behind ANU and ahead of Tasmania to finish second nationally. UNSW then placed two boats inside the top four of the Men’s Lightweight Single Scull, taking bronze in 8:44.07 and fourth in 8:46.45.

The medal results were backed by considerable depth across the regatta. UNSW finished fourth in the Men’s Coxed Eight, sixth in the Open Men’s Coxless Pair and seventh in the Men’s Coxed Four, while its Men’s Double Scull progressed through the repechage to reach the A Final and finish eighth. Two UNSW entries also qualified for the Women’s Single Scull A Final, finishing seventh and eighth, while UNSW placed seventh in the Mixed Coxed Four.

Sailing

UNSW took two of the three podium positions in Sailing, with both University crews finishing among the medals after the multi-race regatta.

UNSW2, skippered by Massimo Henderson, finished second overall to claim silver, while UNSW, skippered by EAP athlete Samuel Ezra, secured bronze. UWA2 ultimately took the national title. The two UNSW boats had been among the leading crews throughout the racing, with Ezra's crew sitting on 49 points and Henderson's on 52 after the first four races before both secured podium positions in the final standings.

The result gave UNSW another double-medal performance and added to a week in which the Black and Yellow found success across the water as well as the courts, fields and combat sports. Samuel Ezra was among UNSW's Sailing EAPs, while fellow EAP Thomas Quinlan was also attached to the program.

Across five days in Perth, UNSW’s Nationals campaign stretched from dominant unbeaten title runs to one-point semi-finals, five-match badminton and table tennis thrillers, three-set volleyball finals, podium finishes on the road and water, and classification games that went down to the final score.

The headline belongs to the seven national championships — Men’s Division 1 Volleyball, Women’s Division 1 Badminton, Men’s Division 2 Basketball, Men’s Division 1 Taekwondo, Women’s Division 1 Taekwondo, Taekwondo Overall Champions and Men’s Division 1 Fencing — but the depth of the week went well beyond those gold medals.

Mixed Netball, Men’s Table Tennis and Women’s Volleyball finished as runners-up in their respective competitions, while Mixed Beach Volleyball and Dodgeball returned home with bronze. Rowing added two silver medals and a bronze, Sailing secured silver and bronze, Jeremy Cannon collected silver and bronze in Cycling, and Daniel Park added a Kendo bronze, extending UNSW's podium success across a remarkably diverse range of sports.

There were near misses too. Men’s Badminton and Women’s Table Tennis finished fourth after reaching medal matches, Women’s Football reached the national final four, Men’s Football finished fifth, the combined Men’s Hockey team finished fifth and Men’s Water Polo closed its campaign with consecutive victories to secure fifth.

Behind every result in Perth was the work of Arc Sport, whose staff played a huge role in making the Nationals experience possible for Team UNSW. From coordinating travel, accommodation and competition logistics to supporting athlete wellbeing throughout the week, the Arc Sport team worked behind the scenes to ensure UNSW’s student-athletes could get to Perth safely, focus on competing and make the most of one of the biggest weeks on the university sporting calendar.

A huge thank you to the entire Arc Sport team for the work that goes into getting Team UNSW to Nationals and creating an experience our student-athletes will remember well beyond the final result.

From seven national championship teams through to podium performances in rowing, sailing, cycling and kendo, and those battling until the final game, race or event for every placing, Perth provided another reminder of the scale and depth of sport at UNSW.

With our larget EAP contigent, seven championship trophies will return to Sydney from the week, but they tell only part of the story of Team UNSW’s 2026 UniSport Nationals campaign that had UNSW finish 3rd overall - our best result since 2017.