Nicola Zagame

Personal

Zagame, nicknamed Ziggy and Nicky, was born on 11 August 1990 in Sydney and grew up attending Kirrawee High School. Currently residing in Gymea Bay, New South Wales, the 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) tall 73 kilograms (161 lb) right handed Zagame disclosed her hobbies to be surfing, art, scrapbooking, and reading. Her art was displayed at the Hazelworth Regional Gallery and Arts Centre in 2008 as part of an exhibition of works of young local artists. She is "intrigued by the animal-like qualities often found in people, both in physical appearance and personality" and integrated this theme into her works which were on display. She attended Sydney University where she studied medical radiation science. She graduated in 2014 and according to her LinkedIn profile is currently employed as a diagnostic radiographer.

She is a water polo coach and works at a shop making sandwiches. In 2017, she flew to Samoa to compete as one of the 24 contestants on Australian Survivor..

Water polo

Zagame plays as a centre back/driver and prefers to wear cap number twelve. She keeps a rock that she considers lucky in her pool bag. She started playing water polo as a thirteen-year-old in Sutherland, New South Wales having been recruited from Cronulla SLSC where was involved with surf lifesaving. At the time of her transition to water polo, she was a better surf swimmer than a stillwater swimmer. She has held a scholarship for water polo at the New South Wales Institute of Sport. In 2008, she competed in the Women's International Series.

Club team

Zagame is a member of and plays club water polo for the Cronulla Sharks Water Polo Club in the National Water Polo League. During the 2009 season, she scored 76 goals. She played for the team in 2010, including the finals tournament, during which she was named in the league final's All Star team. She has twice set season goal-scoring records while playing in the league, with the second time coming in a 2010 game when her team beat Adelaide at home in the Sutherland Leisure Centre. She challenges opposition players in such a way that it frequently results in her fouling out of games. She was the captain of the team during the 2011 season. In 2012, she played briefly with the club before taking a break from the team following their 18 February 2012 game to attend the national team training camp. Her last game before the break was against the Balmain Tigers. As a member of the team, she helped win the first two games of the season 8–4 and 7–4.

Junior national team

Zagame has represented Australia on the junior national level. In July 2006, she was a member of the Youth Girls squad that competed in an international series in Auckland, New Zealand.

Senior national team

Zagame is a member of the Australia women's national water polo team, nicknamed the Stingers. She made her senior team debut in May 2009. In 2009, she was part of the Australian side that finished third at the FINA World League Super Finals in Kirishi, Russia. This was her first major international tournament as a member of the senior squad. In 2009, she was part of the team that finished sixth at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy in 2009. She was also part of the Australian side that won the 2009 Holiday Cup in the United States.

Zagame was a member of the 2010 Stingers squad that competed at the FINA World Cup in Christchurch, New Zealand where Australia finished second. In the team's quarter finals 10–8 victory over the United States women's national water polo team, she scored three goals. In May 2010, she was a member of the team that competed at the FINA World League Asia-Oceania zone held in Osaka, Japan and Tianjin, China.

Zagame was part of the Australian side that won a silver medal at the 2011 Kirishi Cup in June. In the game for the medal, they played Kazakhstan women's national water polo team. In that match, she scored two goals. In July 2011, she was a member of the Australian Stingers that competed in the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai. In preparation for this tournament, she attended a team training camp in Perth, Western Australia.

In January 2012, Zagame competed in the Pan Pacific Championships for the Stingers, and was a member of the squad that competed the three-game test series against the United States. The Australian team won two of the three matches, with scores of 12–13 in an opening series loss, winning 11–6 in the second match and winning the third match 12–7 clash at Sutherland Leisure Centre. Zagame scored a goal in the second half of the final match in the series. This test series was the first time she had played an international match in her home swimming pool, Sutherland Leisure Centre.

In February 2012, Zagame was named in the 17-member training squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and attended a training camp that started on 20 February 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport. She was part of the Stingers squad that competed in a five-game test against Great Britain at the AIS in late February 2012. This was the team's first matches against Great Britain's national team in six years. The team will be cut to thirteen before the team departs for the Olympic games, with the announcement scheduled on 13 June.

Zagame stayed in the sport and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.