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Now with her long-awaited Olympic medal, Zoe Arancini shifts her focus to growing water polo and inspiring the next generation of players to make a splash.

With both parents and an aunt all representing Australia in water polo, Stingers captain Zoe Arancini was always going to dive into the sport.

But the three-time Olympian and Paris silver medallist says not everyone has the opportunity to have a go at the fast-paced and at times brutal sport.

While water polo is played all over the country, it is one of the most exclusive and expensive sports to play at a community level, with registration fees in some competitions breaking the $500 mark.

To register as a junior player (under-14 to under-18) for the 2024/25 summer competition at Ryde Water Polo Club in northwest Sydney will cost parents just over $680.

Parents and players also need to pay for pool entry for game days and training, uniforms, and more than $150 in fees to the sport's state and national governing bodies.

Arancini told AAP water polo was neither accessible nor affordable.

"It's narrowing the playing field with how much it is costing, and the cost of living is making it even harder," she said.

Water polo is one of the few sports in Australia where you pay to play, meaning registration fees do not cover use of the pool.

Arancini says this is because there are simply not enough pools.

"There is also access to the pools, especially in Sydney. You're competing for space with swimmers and other aquatic programs," she said.

Arancini says it is not just fees stopping young people from playing the sport, but also accessibility and location.

There is no water polo club in Western Sydney, the closest being the Blue Mountains Water Polo Club in Glenbrook, 63km west of the Sydney CBD.

This worries Arancini, who wants to see more young people playing water polo after the Stingers' silver-medal success at the Paris Olympics.

She told AAP that Water Polo Australia needs to be working with former Olympians and players to make the sport accessible for all.

"But why aren't we involved, you know? I would love to be a part of that progress," Arancini said.

"How can we make it (water polo) more accessible for more athletes? I think that is where other countries are a little bit better (than Australia).

"I think it is all about talking to athletes, and Water Polo Australia need to get input from the clubs around it."

In its 2023 annual report, Water Polo Australia reported there were just over 20,100 active members nationally, with the highest rate of membership in NSW and Queensland, followed by WA.

Water polo is played in every state and territory except for the Northern Territory.