Aqua

Aqua (left) winning the Snowboard Cross Event (2021)

**Aqua** is a member of the Oceanics. They have competed for them since Marble League 2016.

## History

### Pre-Marble League

Aqua grew up in the city of Dunduei in Oceania along with their friends and future members of the Oceanics Sea, Shore and Ocean. When they were teenagers they worked together at a surf shop in a nearby town even though none of them knew how to surf. They enjoyed spending time at the beach, but not in the ocean unless they were cooling down.

The friends discovered a passion for marble sports when one morning at dawn they were cleaning surfboards. Shore dragged a surfboard across the sand, making a long path. Ocean saw the path and decided to roll down it. They got Shore to have a go as well. Shore never revealed to the rest of the group how it was made. The friends were excited and closed the shop for the rest of the day to roll down the track. They extended the track and spent the next week rolling down it before deciding to sell the surf shop and start training.

For the next two years, the four competed with other teams from Oceania like the Turtle Sliders in the Seven Seas Circuit. When the Marble League was announced, they became determined to take part. During this time, they had been known as "Team Moana" (which means ocean in Maori), but fearing legal threats from the Nondescript Entertainment Company, as well as people likely having difficulty with such a name that comes from a different culture, they decided to change it. Sea was in charge of choosing a new name. They considered "Team Liquid", but eventually chose "Oceanics" as it was westernized enough for other marbles to recognize it and still reflected their background working with the ocean.

### 2016

The Oceanics were eventually admitted to Marble League 2016 due to their success in the Seven Seas Circuit. Only when they were training for Marble League 2016 did any of the four learn to swim, which some have hypothesized is the reason for their poor performances in water. The team started off decently, earning one point in the first event, Balancing. They then did not gain any points in the next seven events. In that run Aqua came 13th in Event 5, the Long Jump. By the end of Event 6, Water Race, the team were in last place in the standings.

In fact, the Oceanics did not get into the top half until Event 9, Team Pursuit, where they won their first ever Marble League medal, a gold, by winning the final against the seemingly dominant Balls of Chaos. With boosted morale, the team went on to gain a silver medal in Event 11, Quartet Diving. Aqua finished the games by coming 8th in the final event, the Hurdles. The Oceanics finished the season in 10th place, better than what they'd hoped for at the halfway point of the season.

### 2017

The Oceanics went into an intense training program for the Marble League 2017 Qualifiers. Much to their surprise, the team did quite well, coming 2nd in the second event, Sand Race, and coming 4th overall at the end. They couldn't have been happier at the time. Even with that qualification, the team kept training for the main tournament, hoping to improve from the previous season.

The Oceanics had a strong start to Marble League 2017, with Aqua earning a silver medal in the first event, Funnel Race. They also won a bronze medal in Event 4, 5-Meter Sprint. The team also managed to break a Marble League Record in the heats of Event 6, Relay Run, but this was overshadowed by Team Primary's disqualification in the race after Imar, a member of Team Primary, started their portion of the race early. The disqualification led to a brawl in the stands, which made many miss the record-breaking run.

Unfortunately, the Oceanics had a poor second half of the season as they struggled to finish consistently. Apart from a sixth-place finish for Aqua in Event 8, High Jump, the team couldn't get any higher than 8th place in events. They even didn't earn any points in Event 10, Archery, coming last there. The team ended the season in a disappointing 11th place with 99 points. They returned home feeling dejected.

### 2018

After the end of Marble League 2017, the team came into contact with Tide, a marble who was promoting marble sports competitions in Mellacai, a major city known for science and architecture. Tide personally reached out to the team and offered to train them for the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. The four accepted the offer with no hesitation.

Tide bought the Oceanics as part of the agreement, and funded their flights to Mellacai to train with them. During this time, they stayed out of the public eye. However, they did announce that Tide would coach them, that Reef had been hired as their manager and that they were constructing the Seven Seas Stadium in Dunduei, named after the marble racing tournament that kickstarted their career.

The Oceanics eventually arrived at the Arctic Circle for the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. Seeded into Group B, the team surprised fans by coming first in the first event, Curling. Unfortunately, the team faltered in the Snow Race, finishing in last place. A fifth-place finish in the 5 Meter Ice Dash saw the team drop to fifth in the group. However, the team managed to finish first and set a new record in the final event, the Halfpipe. This brought the team back onto the top the group and, most importantly, a much-desired qualification spot.

The Oceanics continued their newfound dominance into Marble League 2018, winning a gold medal in the first event, 5 Meter Ice Dash. The team did not medal for the next four events, but kept up with their performance by finishing within the top half in all but one of those events. They earned another medal, a bronze, in Event 6, Team Pursuit, where they also set a Marble League Record in the heats. By the end of the event, the team took back the lead in the standings, too.

Unfortunately, the Oceanics seemingly started to falter in the next two events, Snow Rally and Snowboard Cross, finishing close to last in those respective events (Aqua finished 14th in the Snow Rally). But the team had no intention of giving up up and became even more determined to claim their much-desired Marble League championship title. That eventually paid off, with the team repeating their feat from the Qualifiers by winning a gold medal in Event 9, Curling. They jumped back into the lead in the standings. As of Event 11, Ice Hockey, the team remained in first in the standings.

Expectations were high for the Oceanics as the season reached the final event, the Sand Mogul Race. Unfortunately, Ocean couldn't control themselves in the semifinals and ended up finishing last in their semifinal heat. To add insult to injury, the Midnight Wisps and the Savage Speeders, the other remaining title contenders, both made it into the final. Eventually, both teams did enough in the finals, and the Oceanics dropped to 3rd overall at the end of Marble League 2018. This was their biggest leap in standings, going from 11th to 3rd, but the championship title near miss was a blow to the team's morale.

This led to the Oceanics' poor performances in the off-season events, the 100 Meter Water Race, where Aqua finished 18th, and the Amazing Maze Marble Race, where the team came 17th. The team started training in the Seven Seas Stadium, which was in its last stages on construction, under the supervision of Coach Tide, Queen Marina and their mascot, Alvin. In August 2018, at the end of the Amazing Maze Marble Race, the Oceanics were announced as hosts for Marble League 2019, meaning they were pre-qualified for Marble League 2019. Some members of the O'rangers were allegedly unhappy with this decision, leading to a small rivalry between the two teams.

### 2019

Tide stepped down from being the reserve member of the Oceanics as it would appear to be a conflict of interest to both coach a team and be an active member due to the more prominent role of coaches in Marble League 2019. Tide became the Oceanics' full-time coach and recruited Bay as the new reserve member on account of their skills as an endurance athlete.

Unfortunately, the Oceanics didn't feel the same with Tide no longer competing. They didn't coach the team as well while on the bench as they didn't see where the team was struggling. The team took part in the Marble League 2019 Friendly Round. Aqua managed to win the Funnel Race and the team won the Relay Run. Despite finishing in last place in the final event, the Underwater Race, they finished the competition in 1st, one point ahead of the O'rangers. This was the point that the fans started to question the team's performance in water based events, noting their past poor performances.

Knowing this, the Oceanics felt pressure to train for the water events, to the point of training too much for them, neglecting the other events. Other factors affected their training, including the completion of the Seven Seas Stadium, which affected their ability to train before early 2019, and the declining health of Queen Marina, which stopped them from attending Marble League 2019.

The Oceanics couldn't keep up their good performance from the Friendly Round when Marble League 2019 started. In the first event, the Underwater Race, they came 13th. This was a blow to morale, especially as it was in front of their own public, especially King Triton. Over the next five events, the team had bottom-half finishes in four out of five events, leaving them in last place. During this time, Aqua came 15th in Event 2, the Funnel Race. The Oceanics managed to get out of last place after Event 7, Block Pushing, tied with the Pinkies in points. Unfortunately, the team still could not get back to their 2018 form.

Aqua came 6th in Event 8, the Summer Biathlon. The Oceanics nearly earned a medal in Event 10, the Hubelino Maze, coming in 4th, which kept them in 15th place above the Pinkies. The following event, the Dirt Race, saw the team come in 7th, putting them back into last place overall. Morale was at an all-time low and the team continued to do poorly in Event 12, Rafting, coming in 11th. This ensured they were the first team unable to win Marble League 2019.

In Event 13, the Elimination Race, the Oceanics were the first team to be eliminated in their heat, coming in 15th. After their elimination, the manager of the Oceanics, Reef, rolled over to Tide with the mascot, Alvin, and some security marbles. Reef fired Tide on the spot, even though Tide still owned the team. Lagoon was brought in to coach the team for the remainder of Marble League 2019. Tide tried to fire Reef as manager, but was stopped when the Royal Family stepped in.

Unfortunately for the Oceanics, Lagoon couldn't turn their performance around and the team finished in last place with the worst points average of any team in Marble League history. After the final event, the Sand Rally, in which Aqua came 16th, the Oceanics fans stormed into the stadium and surrounded the podium holding a banner saying "Noceanics". Manager Reef attributed this result to stress from hosting, coaching changes and loss of fan support. Sea claimed that their team's poor performance came about because their "mojo was thrown off" once Tide stopped playing for the team and started coaching. Tide didn't notice they were struggling, a sentiment echoed by Shore.

After the end of Marble League 2019, the Royal Family of Dunduei decided to acquire the rights to the Oceanics name, as well as all its associated personnel, including Reef and Lagoon, and the Seven Seas Stadium, from Tide, who was promptly dismissed once the deal was reached. In addition, to make sure the team had nothing to do with Tide anymore, the Oceanics revealed their new team motto, "Ride the Wave".

The Oceanics were invited to take part in Marbula One Season 1, but rejected the invitation because they wanted to focus on training for the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers after their poor performance in Marble League 2019. Some sources claim that Lagoon would not let them take part in any offseason event until they got over their fear of water. Likewise, Sea said that the team had hit rock bottom, but were determined to work hard, mentally, emotionally and physically, to qualify for Marble League 2020 and to prove their worth in the competition once more.

## Career Events

Note: Events include any kind of individual & team events (friendly events, other tournaments etc.)

## Individual Career Points

### Marble League Showdown

 2022 | 1
 Total

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Stynth, NordiqueWhaler (5th October 2021). RetRollSpective – Oceanics. Project Marblearth.
2. ↑ Stynth (25th June 2019). Tide Out: The Oceanics’ State of Affairs in the 2019 Marble League. Jelle's Marble Runs.
3. ↑ GrandAdmiralMellacus (28th February 2020). How were Marbula One teams chosen?. Reddit. “Most teams happily accepted and loved the idea of an off-season challenge, but some also rejected their invitation because they wanted to focus on training for the ML20. One of those teams are the Oceanics, who had a lot of trouble after the last main season and need to get back on track before successfully competing again.”