KINGSTON, Ont. (November 25, 2017) - The Queen's women's water polo team hosts the inaugural National Collegiate Water Polo (NCWP) Championship this weekend and for exchange student Vesselina Velikova (Horgen, Switzerland) it marks both an end and a new beginning in the sport.

Velikova will close out her time with Queen's and the women's water polo team this weekend but it will not be an end to her career. Velikova has been offered a spot with the Perth Torpedoes who play in the Australian National Water Polo League.

For Velikova it was an unexpected yet exciting opportunity. 

"He (Gaels coach Dave Hill) asked me if I would be interested to go to Australia and play Water Polo there, he had an offer coming in from a coach from Perth who was looking for a centre-forward which is the position I play," commented Velikova on the opportunity. "He said he would love to recommend me because he's confident that I could do this. I was very excited but I didn't believe him, at first I thought he was kidding. For me this is a once in a lifetime chance and something I never expected to happen. It's kind of like a dream coming true, a dream that I didn't even know I had."

Watch the full interview with Velikova in the viewer above.

The Gaels and Velikova begin their journey in the NCWP championship Friday at 5:30pm at the ARC Pool when they take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees.