Watson was born in Sydney. She played netball before water polo. After doctors advised her to give up land sports for injuries, she joined her school's water polo team.[1]
Career
In 1983, Debbie Watson was selected to represent Australia for her great talent in water polo. Her first international appearance was as a 17-year-old at the 1983 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada, where the Australian team finished in third place.[1]
She went on to captain Australia from 1991 to 1996, and was voted best player in the world in 1993.[2] She won the FINA World Cup again in 1995 after finishing in second place at Long Beach, California in 1991.
Watson retired in 1996 at age of 30. But in 1997, when the International Olympic Committee added women's water polo to the Olympic program in 2000, She jumped back into the pool. By defeating the United States 4-3 in the final, home team Australia won the first gold medal in women's water polo at the Sydney Summer Olympics,[3][4] making Watson the first female athlete to win gold in water polo both at the Olympics and at the World Championship. As of 2020, Watson is the second oldest Olympic champion in women's water polo (34 years, 361 days).